Vrouw van Wilhelmus Johannes Steenhoff, in bed 1873 - 1932

Wilhelmus Johannes Steenhoff made this charcoal drawing of a woman sleeping, but it feels like more than a portrait. It's a study in the poetics of mark-making. I can imagine Steenhoff with charcoal in hand, circling his subject, searching for the essential lines that capture her vulnerability. See how the dense, dark strokes around her head and above the bed contrast with the lighter, more tentative lines that define her face and hands. These soft lines seem to caress her form. He’s not just representing what he sees, but what he feels. I wonder what Steenhoff was thinking about while he was making this image? Was he contemplating the nature of sleep, dreams, or the simple beauty of human repose? I think about other artists, like Paula Modersohn-Becker, who also found profound beauty in the everyday, in the quiet moments of women's lives. There's a kind of conversation happening across time, between artists who are willing to look closely and deeply at the world around them.