Portret van Eva Gonzalès 1870

Curator: It strikes me as surprisingly modern. The economy of line is so direct, almost brutal. Editor: Today we're looking at Edouard Manet’s “Portrait of Eva Gonzalès," created around 1870 using pencil as the medium. A quick sketch in some ways, it depicts fellow artist Eva Gonzalès in profile. Curator: The quickness is revealing! It says a lot about the immediacy of the relationship and Manet’s process. Consider the paper itself – its quality, its likely source… was this a formal commission, or something more informal, dashed off in his studio? I bet that simple pencil was hard-made from quality graphite. How would that influence the creation process? Editor: True, there’s the social relationship at play between these two artists to think about but there’s more too. To me the bare outlines also present Eva Gonzalès as somehow ethereal, almost a ghost. Her simplified form against the stark background evokes a sense of melancholy, hinting at the ephemeral nature of life and beauty. Doesn't the very act of tracing her profile almost turn her into an idealized silhouette, an icon? Curator: A ghost? I think you are idealizing it perhaps? Let's not neglect her hair. Look at those lines, how they show the textures of the up-do she has going. That shows you both social-status, how time would have been spent in construction and it might also point towards the influence of Japonisme within Parisian artistic circles. Her very hair, the clothing and their social connotations - those aren't ghostly at all! Editor: Well, perhaps "ghostly" is overstating it. Yet the simplified representation invites reflection on deeper themes, such as identity and representation. This to me is about memory, and the attempt to capture the essence of a person through minimal, yet evocative, means. Curator: I think looking more closely at the work’s origin lets us move away from simply a surface or iconographical reading! Editor: Maybe so, but looking into her character will unlock much about her and Edouard too. Thank you for highlighting different points in this work. Curator: Absolutely, my pleasure to bring a different viewpoint.