Naakte zittende vrouw 1884 - 1952

This is Reinier Willem Petrus de Vries's "Naakte zittende vrouw", a print of a nude woman. I'm curious about the artist's hand. There is something very knowing in the simplicity of line and the monochrome palette. It's almost as if the artist has tried to pare back the language of image-making, to lay bare what is essential. In turn, it feels that the artist invites me to see the figure in all her essential humanity. I wonder about the surface of the printing block – was it smooth, or did it have a grain that added to the texture of the print? The artist’s consciousness of the block, the grain, the pressure, the ink, the image. These material aspects of the image really do shape how we experience the painting, informing our emotional and intellectual experience. I can’t help but feel connected to the artist. I imagine him thinking about other artists and how they might have been thinking about the same problems as him – the problems of seeing and the joy of making.