Sketch with six figure compositions 1907

Paula Modersohn-Becker made this graphite sketch, with its six little worlds on paper, and what strikes me is how direct and explorative it feels. It’s like she's thinking right in front of us. The marks are searching, vulnerable, and the paper is almost like a stage where these figures are trying out different poses. Look at the top right, the way she’s rendered that figure and plant, with the sort of gentle hatching that indicates the forms. What's so amazing is how the nature of the sketch itself conveys a feeling of open possibility, and almost a feeling of multiple time frames, all happening at once. The marks are not overwrought, they almost feel light or like there is a breeze moving them on the paper. It reminds me of Marsden Hartley's drawings – that same honesty, that same refusal to hide the working. Art is a conversation, right? And this feels like Paula's right here, inviting us to join in.