Young Woman Reading (Ines) 1909 - 1910

Umberto Boccioni made this drawing of a young woman reading, Ines, with charcoal on paper. Look at the smudges and shadows. It's like he's trying to catch a fleeting moment, a glimpse of Ines lost in her book. I can imagine Boccioni, charcoal in hand, circling around her, trying to capture not just her likeness, but the very essence of her concentration. He's laying down these marks, lines crisscrossing, building up the form, like a sculptor with clay, but so much faster! See how the charcoal is thick in places, almost velvety, then light and airy elsewhere? It's a beautiful dance between control and letting go. That diagonal slash across her face. It could be a mistake, or maybe it's Boccioni's way of showing us the energy, the movement, the pure feeling of the moment. Like so many artists, he's in dialogue with the past, like Degas, but pushing towards something new, raw, and full of life. Painting is an act of looking, feeling, and trying to make sense of things.