Verschleiertes Jahr 1908

This quiet drawing was made by Egon Schiele. The colour of worn leather, she emerges from the paper like a memory. See how softly the lines define her form, a gentle embrace rather than a sharp outline. I can imagine Schiele gently coaxing her into existence, a whisper of graphite, a caress of colour. What was he thinking as he made this? The tenderness here makes me wonder about his relationships with women. Was it a moment of quiet contemplation amidst the storm of his more anguished works? It’s almost as if she's veiled, not just by clothing, but by a sense of the unknowable. There's a delicacy here that feels particularly poignant, especially when you know about his short life. All artists are in conversation with one another, across time, inspiring one another’s creativity. It is a form of embodied expression which embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations.