Staande, naakte vrouw die zich afdroogt c. 1919

Willem Witsen made this etching of a standing nude woman drying herself, and you can just imagine him in the studio with her. The sepia ink makes you feel like this is a memory, as the woman holds the white towel that bisects the artwork. It divides the space around her, one side looser and smudgier, the other a cleaner white. She's almost floating, as if the artist has caught her mid-pose, suspended in time. It feels intimate, doesn’t it? I find myself thinking about Degas, and the history of painting women in their private moments. What was Witsen thinking about? What are we thinking about as we look? What is she thinking about? I love how she's holding the towel, the fabric almost blending into her skin. The soft ink makes me feel like the memory is both there and not there. Ultimately, Witsen is in conversation with so many other artists who were thinking about how to represent the body. And we’re now part of this conversation too.