Liggende vrouw, in kussens, met een boek 1892 - 1916

Rik Wouters created this sketch of a reclining woman reading in charcoal, using broad expressive strokes. Wouters, a Belgian Fauvist and Impressionist painter, was deeply devoted to his wife, Nel, who was also his most important model. The sketch gives us a glimpse into the intimate sphere of their life. The woman, presumably Nel, is captured in a private moment of leisure, surrounded by the comfort of cushions. The drawing has an unfinished quality with the rapidly sketched lines implying a sense of immediacy. We can almost feel the quiet intimacy of the scene. It is a departure from traditional representations of women as objects of spectacle. Instead, Wouters seeks to capture the interiority of his subject. The loose lines suggest movement and life, a characteristic feature of impressionistic style. Wouters’s sketch gives form to a quiet rebellion, a move towards recognizing the beauty and complexity of everyday life, as he renders the personal and the intimate as worthy subjects of art.