If it is true that humanity draws since the cave age it is not till the XVth Century that the Western World appreciates drawing as an autonomus art, as is the case with Pisanello and Gentile da Fabriano.
Though it is difficult to imagine a painter who cannot draw it is perfectibly feasable that a draughtsman may not be interested in expressing himself through painting. Drawing in my estimation is mostly that which maintains itself in the limits of black and white and all the possible hues of gray. I believe it is a mistake to consider that these are nor colours. They are, but within the austerity of their hues. I know drawings like those of Catalina Chervin that reach a wealth of subtle depth of tones that it is difficult to find in many ambitious and pretentious paintings. It is not necessary to add pigments in order to reach higher aesthetical quality.
Drawing has been considered with justice the most intellectual of the ingredients that form part of the scale of the visual arts. The drawings of Picasso or Matisse, amongst the great masters of the century, have an authority that imposes itself as from Matisse´s dictum: “L’exactitude n’nest pas la verité” (Exactitude is not truth). This is confirmed by Catalina Chervin. Her images suggest anthropomorphic reminiscences, and remind us owing to their intricacy the climate we perceive in Brueghel, or even more of Hieronymous Bosch. The works are done with a thin pen and vary their tones by superposition of delicate traits that speak of an obsessive passion for achieving the gradual growth of their forms. We know that obsession is one of the characteristics of genius, so long as it maintains itself within the range of pure and clear ideas. These are works that I can compare without heresy to the drawings of Leonardo on metereological subjects, such is their exquisite quality. To contemplate the works of Catalina Chervin means falling under their hypnotic magic, that far form being binding us, points for us the road of freedom.
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