Portret van Emilia Spoor-van Wickevoirt Crommelin 1877 - 1928

Cornelis Spoor made this portrait of Emilia Spoor-van Wickevoirt Crommelin using graphite on paper. I just love how immediate and vulnerable drawings can be. Imagine Spoor sitting in front of Emilia, his eyes darting between her face and the paper, trying to capture her likeness with these delicate marks. I bet he was trying to figure out how to translate three dimensions onto a flat surface, wrestling with light and shadow, and trying to find the right balance between detail and suggestion. See how the lines around her face and hair are so soft and tentative, almost like he's feeling his way around her features? And then there are these darker, more decisive lines that define the folds of her dress. It's like he's using different kinds of marks to describe different kinds of surfaces and textures. And that little scribble in the lower left corner? Is it a mistake, a doodle, or just part of the process? Who knows? Spoor is in conversation with other portraitists, and he's building on a long tradition of artists trying to capture the essence of a person on paper.