Michael Burgess, Portrait of Albert Schweitzer, Drawing in Graphite, 1977

Portrait of Albert Schweitzer. Graphite - Using a series of sharpened pencils ranging from 6B to 2H. A labor of love. Michael Burgess: "When I was very young, I was fascinated by Albert Schweitzer. Dr. Schweitzer experienced a profound empathy for people suffering from the horrible, disfiguring disease of Leprosy. He and his wife set up a leprosy colony in what is now, Gabon Africa. He became a pioneer in the treatment of the disease. He was also known for several other contributions to humanity including his staunch advocacy for the disarmament of nuclear weapons. He saw, back in the late 1940s and early 1950s, long before most others, the dangers of nuclear fallout and how it could impact the world. He championed that cause throughout his adult life. Eventually, he was blacklisted by the U.S. government during the Eisenhower era. He continued to champion his causes, and eventually, he won the Nobel Peace Price in 1952. He lived a long and fruitful life, dying at the age of 90". Regarding the Drawing: Given the age of the Drawing, the paper is somewhat tinted and aged. You can still see some of the initial probing lines from the initial sketch and the resulting gesture, which was left on the paper, as I honed in on the features that I wanted to emphasize. That includes his shirt and jacket lapels, which take the viewer back in time. The drawing itself is as crisp and as fresh as the day that I completed it in 1977. This work could be considered somewhat vintage in terms of its age and stoic, enduring presence. At the time, I was working in a studio in an old farmhouse in Ontario, Canada, not far from where I lived. Throughout the process, I was exploring and found my way to the essence of the man, with admiration and affection.