Kind in een blouse met kraag 1883 - 1922

Johanna van de Kamer made this drawing of a child in a collared blouse with what looks like a sanguine conte crayon. The marks are light, tentative, as if she’s trying to capture a fleeting moment. I can imagine her in the studio, quickly trying to get the essence of the child down on paper before they moved. Maybe she was thinking about the old masters, like Rembrandt, who also used sanguine to capture the human form, thinking about how to bring her own voice to this tradition. You can see the circular form around the face, and the few lines that suggest the blouse and collar. It's as if she is trying to understand the subject. The lines aren't too bold or assertive but rather searching. It's a reminder that art is a dialogue across time, a conversation between artists who are all grappling with similar problems like how to capture a likeness or convey emotion. In painting, you have to embrace ambiguity and uncertainty, to let the materials guide you. I think that’s what Johanna van de Kamer is doing here.