Seated Woman c. 1930

Editor: This is "Seated Woman," a charcoal drawing by Ivan Mestrovic, from around 1930. The pose, with the figure hunched over, makes me feel a sense of introspection, maybe even a little sadness. What do you see in this piece, looking at its composition? Curator: The economy of line is striking. Mestrovic reduces the figure to its essential forms, achieving monumentality through simplification. Consider the way the rounded shapes – the head, the back, the thighs – interlock. It is through the precise rendering of tonal gradations across the paper that volume is achieved. This formal reduction pushes toward a visual language, but how do you feel the piece avoids being completely abstract? Editor: It’s definitely the suggestion of the figure that prevents that, specifically how the lines define the curve of a back or the angle of a leg. I mean, we can definitely tell what we are looking at, it’s obviously a woman. Curator: Exactly. Note that no textural richness is provided beyond the charcoal's gradient across the paper support, lending a formal unity and reinforcing the piece's objecthood. Mestrovic avoids narrative, or psychology, and maintains formalism at the forefront. Does the palette say anything to you about it? Editor: With its monochrome, there's not much color, but I would have to say, for me, its simplicity is why it's also compelling. It forces you to look closely at the form, how the artist builds form, to use that phrase of visual language. Curator: Precisely. In this emphasis on pure form, Mestrovic isolates art from its historical and social contexts. It exemplifies a kind of autonomy of the artwork as such. Editor: That’s a perspective I never considered. Curator: So much to discover within these subtle lines. It's a perfect reminder about formal analysis.