Girl Reclining c. 1919

Editor: Here we have Wyndham Lewis' "Girl Reclining," a pencil drawing. There's a real angularity to the figure, almost a machine-like quality, yet somehow vulnerable. What catches your eye in this work? Curator: Isn't it fascinating? Lewis, with his Vorticist leanings, often explored this tension between the organic and the mechanical. I see a body at rest but rendered with an almost unsettling precision. Does the pose strike you as relaxed, or something else? Editor: I see what you mean. There's a definite stiffness there. It's like she's posing even in sleep. I guess what I'm learning is that even the most straightforward looking drawing can have layers of complexity! Curator: Exactly! Art's a bit like life that way, isn't it?