Sketchbook 1946

Hans Bellmer made this intriguing sketchbook drawing, using graphite on paper. The most obvious element is the grid; it's the matrix of an engineer, or perhaps a tailor. The lines of the body, rendered in soft graphite, seem almost to fight with the implied geometry. Bellmer seems to be at odds with the kind of systematization that was becoming so typical of life in the 20th century. Note the texture of the graphite as well. Some lines are barely there, a breath on the page, while others are dark and definitive. There's an almost desperate quality to the artist's touch, searching for form within the grid's discipline. Consider how this material, and its application, convey the artist's ambivalence toward control and freedom, discipline and instinct, and how these tensions reflect broader social themes. Bellmer clearly knew his materials, and by exploring them, he reveals a great deal.