Sleeping model (Model on th carpet) 1918

Here is a small drawing of a sleeping model made by Pyotr Konchalovsky at an unknown date. There's a kind of intimacy in the quickness of the line, isn’t there? It feels so immediate, like we’re looking at a fleeting moment captured in ink. I can imagine Konchalovsky, charcoal in hand, rapidly mapping out the contours of the model’s body, trying to capture the essence of her form with as few strokes as possible. The lines are fluid and confident, and you get a sense of his deep understanding of anatomy and the way light plays across the human form. The economical use of line really emphasizes the curves of her body, the way she’s nestled so comfortably into sleep. Those scribbled lines in the background—are they pillows, shadows, the edge of a room? I like the ambiguity. It invites you to fill in the blanks, to imagine the space for yourself.