Portrait of Madame Vuillard c. 1924 - 1926

Édouard Vuillard made this portrait of Madame Vuillard with graphite on paper, and you can almost hear the scratching of the pencil. He probably worked quickly, trying to capture her likeness, as it's an intimate, domestic sketch, not really for public consumption. I can feel Vuillard trying to figure out who she is, not just what she looks like. He explores her contours with these tentative lines. There's an attitude, a psychological space being mapped out with each mark. He's searching for her essence, you know? It reminds me of other artists who draw their family members over and over again like Alice Neel. Those quick, almost scribbled lines, they show the energy and thought behind the work. It's like he's thinking aloud on paper. And ultimately, that's what painting and drawing is, a conversation with yourself and the subject, an inquiry into form and feeling.