Head of a Woman (en Face) 1907

Anders Zorn made this drawing of a woman's head sometime in his lifetime using graphite on paper. Look at the repeated marks and hatching that build up the tone. You can almost see the artist circling the image, building and building, searching for the form. There's a sensitivity to the face, and the drawing seems to capture a moment of quiet contemplation. I wonder, was this woman known to Zorn? Perhaps a muse or a friend? The hat she is wearing is only lightly sketched; maybe he couldn't quite get it right, or lost interest in it. I wonder if the rest of the drawing emerged first and then he added the hat later, as an afterthought? The linear quality of the medium lends itself to an immediacy, as the artist can quickly capture the essence of their subject. It is as though we, as viewers, are invited into a dialogue with the artist, as we too try to make sense of the image. Artists are in an ongoing conversation, inspiring one another’s creativity.