Children 1924

María Blanchard made this drawing, Children, using soft materials, charcoal or pastel. It looks like she constructed the work bit by bit, rubbing away and starting over to find the figures. What might she have been thinking? I imagine her deeply engaged in the challenge of representing the children. Look at the tentative lines. The faces emerge gradually through layers of marks. There’s a tenderness in how she builds up their forms. The smoky grays and blues give the work a hazy, dreamlike quality. Notice the darker outlines that define their shapes, contrasting with softer smudges that suggest movement and life. You can feel Blanchard exploring relationships between form and shadow. Like other artists, Blanchard was always in conversation with the world around her, responding to the light and the dark, the seen and unseen. Ultimately, she shows us how painting is an ongoing process of discovery.