Profile of a Woman 1900 - 1905

Theodore Roussel made this print, Profile of a Woman, using etching and drypoint. Look at the way the light emerges from the darkness, gently illuminating her face and hands. I can almost feel the artist hovering over the plate, scraping and needling away at the surface, coaxing the image into being. Did he start with the face, mapping out her features with delicate lines, or did he build up the shadows first, letting her form emerge from the gloom? Maybe he was thinking about Whistler, who was a friend of his, and the moody, atmospheric portraits he was making at the time. It's like he’s inviting us to lean in close, to contemplate the quiet beauty of this intimate moment. I love how artists look at each other’s work and have conversations across time, inspiring each other's creativity. For me, painting is embodied expression, embracing ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations.