Twee schetsen van gezichten, waarvan een doorgekrast 1894

Nelly Bodenheim made these two pencil sketches on paper, though we don't know exactly when. The casual nature of the medium speaks volumes. Unlike oil paint, bronze, or even watercolor, pencil is inexpensive and immediate. It is a tool for quick studies and personal notes. The material is crucial to how we understand the drawing. The very directness of the pencil strokes is especially evident in the upper sketch, which has been heavily crossed out, abandoned in favor of a softer, more tentative rendering of a baby's face. Given that Bodenheim was primarily an illustrator of children's books, we might consider this a practice run, a way of honing her skills. Seen in this light, the drawing becomes less a precious work of art and more an example of a working process. This invites us to think about the labor that goes into even the most seemingly effortless images, blurring the lines between the fine arts and the more workaday world of commercial design.