Seated Female Nude c. 1908 - 1923

Ferdinand Oldewelt made this drawing of a seated female nude, probably in his studio, using a pencil on paper. What strikes me is the lightness of touch, a real sense of the artist feeling his way into the form through a series of tentative marks, almost like a caress. The texture of the paper plays a huge role here, lending a delicate, almost ethereal quality to the drawing. The lines are so faint, so tentative, that they seem to hover just above the surface, creating a sense of depth and volume through the sheer accumulation of marks. Look at the way he’s rendered the head, a dense web of lines that somehow manages to suggest both form and shadow. It's a beautiful example of how less can be so much more. It reminds me of some of Agnes Martin’s drawings, where the slightest variation in line weight and density can create a whole world of feeling. And like Martin, Oldewelt seems to be reminding us that art is not about capturing reality, but about creating a space for contemplation and wonder.