A lady seated on a chair 

Paul César Helleu sketched "A lady seated on a chair" using chalk and sanguine. The pale ground lends a soft, dreamlike quality to the image. Notice how Helleu uses a combination of white and sanguine chalk to define the contours and volumes of the figure and the chair. The marks form a semiotic structure; the lines are not merely descriptive but function as signs that evoke form and texture. The composition plays with the tension between the defined and the undefined. The sitter's face and upper body are relatively detailed, drawing our eye, but as we move down, the lines become sparser, almost dissolving into the background. In this way Helleu destabilizes the traditional portrait, focusing less on precise representation and more on the suggestive power of line and form. The result is a fascinating study in how much can be communicated with minimal means, inviting us to complete the image with our own perceptions.