Vrouw die op een stoel naast een wieg zit 1887 - 1920

This is ‘Vrouw die op een stoel naast een wieg zit’ or ‘Woman sitting in a chair next to a cradle’ made by Albert Roelofs. It’s a monochrome print, probably etching or drypoint, that gives the piece a real sense of immediacy. I love how the scene is built up from a mass of tiny, almost frantic lines. They’re all heading in different directions, crisscrossing and layering up to create the forms. The textures, the fabric of the woman’s dress, the wallpaper behind, are conjured with these energetic marks. Look at the way the lines are denser in the shadows, and sparser in the highlights, there’s a real sense of light flickering across the surface. I’m drawn to the woman’s face. It’s barely there, just a few lines suggesting the curve of her cheek and the set of her brow, but it speaks volumes. It reminds me a little of Paula Modersohn-Becker, who was interested in depicting the everyday lives of women and children. Both artists share this interest in depicting intimate scenes of domestic life. It’s a good reminder that art is just one big conversation, where everyone is riffing off each other and trying to say something new.