Dansend halfnaakte vrouw 1915

Armand Rassenfosse made this drawing of a dancing, half-naked woman in 1915 using pencil and white chalk. Imagine the artist, maybe with a cigarette dangling from his lips, stepping back and forth to achieve this effect of light on the body, light on the dress, with those soft tones of grey and white against the paper. The work is made up of many, many marks, coming together to suggest form, rhythm, and movement. I can see it as a process of perpetual adjustments, shifting the weight of the dancer, or the fall of light on her shoulders. I love the way that a single gesture can convey the feeling and intention of the artist – the angle of the head, the placement of the arms. You can see the artist thinking, and rethinking, as he works. It reminds me of Degas and Toulouse Lautrec, whose explorations of the figure show us the beauty of everyday life. Artists are in constant conversation, and each mark we make adds to that ongoing story.