Female nude reclining 1909 - 1910

This drawing of a reclining nude was done by Auguste Rodin, and it's at the Met in New York. It's a sketch, really. And you can see Rodin feeling his way through the body with line. The pencil strokes aren’t precious, they’re searching, like he's trying to find the form in space. The surface is alive with all these tentative marks, and the paper peeks through, making the whole thing feel light and airy. There's a real freedom here, which makes it seem immediate and fresh. Look at the way he's drawn the head, the face almost dissolving into the background. Is she looking up, or is she in some kind of reverie? Rodin does this thing where he leaves the drawing unresolved, allowing ambiguity to creep in. Think of Degas, or maybe even the later Matisse drawings with their simple, elegant lines. It's like they're all part of this conversation about how much you can leave out and still capture the essence of a thing.