Pierette (Alice N.) 1906

Albert Belleroche made this print of Pierrette, also known as Alice, using lithography. It’s all about the touch, isn’t it? The velvety feel of the lithographic crayon or tusche on the stone, the way he coaxes the image out with these marks. Look at the way the lines caress her face, building form so tenderly. It's soft, like a memory, with that russet ink giving it a warm glow. See how he lets the lines drift into the background, dissolving the edges? It's like she's emerging from a dream. The hatching around the mouth feels different, it's more intentional than the rest of the piece. Belleroche was tight with Toulouse-Lautrec. You can see that Parisian love of capturing the human form, but with a gentler hand, maybe. It's all about the process, the conversation between the artist, the stone, and the image. You can almost feel him there, drawing, erasing, finding her in the marks.