The woman in front of a mirror 1921

Pyotr Konchalovsky made this drawing of a woman with pencil on paper. Here, mark-making becomes a way of feeling. The artist has worked fast, capturing the immediacy of the moment. There’s an intensity in the way he’s laid down these lines, creating a tense, raw energy. The surface feels unfinished, vulnerable, like a sketch from life. Look at the way Konchalovsky has drawn the woman's hands, the quick, scratchy strokes that define their form. They seem almost clumsy, yet there's a tenderness in their depiction. The density of the marks gives them weight and presence, the contrast to the negative space enhances the emotive character of the scene. This drawing reminds me of the early works of Egon Schiele, especially in the way both artists used line to convey psychological intensity and emotional depth. Like Schiele, Konchalovsky seems to embrace ambiguity, leaving room for interpretation and imagination.