Anna Akhmatova 1911

Modigliani made this drawing of Anna Akhmatova with ink on paper. Look at how freely the lines flow, how the figure is reduced to only a few elegant strokes. I imagine Modigliani sketching quickly, trying to capture her essence with minimal means. You can feel the artist's hand in every mark, the slight variations in pressure and speed as the pen moves across the page. The negative space becomes as important as the lines themselves, creating a sense of lightness and openness. I think he’s almost making her up as he goes along, letting the curve of a shoulder suggest the rest of the body. The drawing reminds me of other artists who worked with simple lines to convey complex emotions, like Matisse or Picasso. And like them, Modigliani was part of an ongoing conversation about how to represent the human form in new and inventive ways. It's like he's saying: "Here’s a world of feelings, suggested by almost nothing!"