Abstraction 

This is "Abstraction," a 1914 drawing by Roger de La Fresnaye. It's a play of light and shadow, rendered through dense cross-hatching, which creates a sense of depth and texture. The objects, though recognizable as a bottle, a box, and perhaps a glass, are broken down into geometric forms. La Fresnaye seems less interested in representing reality faithfully, and more in exploring the underlying structure of the objects. The composition is carefully balanced, with dark masses counterpointed by light areas. The rough, almost crude mark-making is essential, destabilizing fixed meanings. This drawing reflects the broader artistic and philosophical concerns of the time, particularly the Cubist movement's challenge to traditional representation. It invites us to look beyond the surface, to see the world not as a collection of objects, but as an arrangement of shapes and forms. The seemingly simple act of cross-hatching becomes a tool for questioning our perceptions of space and form, and a statement about the shifting nature of reality itself.