Naakt, zittend op divan met opgetrokken knieën c. 1922

Willem Witsen made this print called "Naakt, zittend op divan met opgetrokken knieën" using etching. The way Witsen worked on the plate, you can feel the scrape of the drypoint. The lines build up to create a tender but not overly romantic impression of the model, sat on a divan. You can see the process, the art of building tone and texture. The backdrop is incredible – a field of marks, each distinct. I want to look closer at her foot, the way it rests on the divan. It almost disappears because the pressure of her foot is so slight, and the color is so subtle, matching the tone of the divan. It's a clever trick to connect the figure to the ground, this little moment of uncertainty. He reminds me of Degas, another master of the intimate moment. It’s nice to see how artists build on each other’s ideas. There's no final word on art, and it’s all the more interesting for it.