Vrouw met kind c. 1901 - 1927

Johan Antonie de Jonge made this drawing, Vrouw met kind, with what looks like charcoal or a soft pencil, and you can feel the process, the artist figuring things out as he goes. Look at how the marks build up the form; it's all about the texture of the lines, the density of the shading. He's not trying to hide anything, every stroke is visible, like a map of his thinking. See how the lines around the head of the child are so tentative, so delicate? It's like he's feeling his way around the shape, trying to capture the softness of the skin. The whole thing has a real tenderness to it, doesn't it? This reminds me of some of Kathe Kollwitz's drawings, with that same sense of empathy and raw emotion. It's like they're both searching for something real, something true, in the act of drawing. Art is never really finished.