Achterzijde van een staande naakte vrouw 1906 - 1945

This is Reijer Stolk's pencil sketch, "Achterzijde van een staande naakte vrouw," over at the Rijksmuseum, and I love that you can see the bare bones of how he's thinking. Look at this almost architectural, geometric approach to the figure: it's all about structure and form. Stolk's hatched marks build volume, a sense of weight, and, dare I say, a hint of vulnerability? The grid is visible, almost like scaffolding, and allows a look at the inner-workings of the drawing, and, by extension, the artist's thought process. I find myself drawn to the upper arch. The lines are denser here. It gives the figure a sense of containment, like she is behind glass or in a niche. This reminds me of the early drawings of Marsden Hartley, where the hand of the artist is clearly present in the work.