Zittend vrouwelijk naakt, met kousen aan 1920

Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita made this etching called "Zittend vrouwelijk naakt, met kousen aan" (or Seated Female Nude, Wearing Stockings) at some point in his career. It’s this ghostly figure emerging from a dark background. I can imagine Mesquita working on the plate, layering those marks, figuring out the light and shadow. There’s something vulnerable about the way the figure is rendered. It’s like she’s caught between being seen and disappearing. The texture of the etching creates this hazy effect, like she's a memory or a dream. It reminds me of other artists who were pushing the boundaries of representation and abstraction. Like Paula Modersohn-Becker, who was also exploring the female form in new and radical ways. It's as though artists across time are responding to each other, in this ongoing conversation. Each one leaves their mark, adding to the collective understanding of what it means to be human, to see, and to feel.