Dancer sitting 1969

Jean Jansem made "Dancer sitting", a 54 x 65 cm painting with an unknown medium. Looking at this piece, I can feel the artist working through something, you know? The dark palette and thick textures are like a mood, heavy and introspective. It's all about layering here, building up the surface to create a sense of depth. Check out the dancer's legs, how they're formed with these chunky strokes, almost sculptural. There's a real physicality to the paint, and you can imagine Jansem wrestling with the material to capture that feeling of weight and vulnerability. The lines around the figure, how they seem to tremble and fade? It’s as though the subject is dissolving back into the ground, becoming one with the paint itself. Jansem's work often deals with themes of melancholy and human suffering, like you see in Käthe Kollwitz's prints. But here, there's also a sense of quiet strength, like the dancer is finding solace in her own body. It's a reminder that art doesn't always have to be pretty, it can also be a space for working through difficult emotions.