Czóbel Béla Könyöklö Nő 1920 1920

Bela Czobel drew this picture of a leaning woman in 1920, and what gets me is how he seemed to be thinking through line. It's all about the touch of the pencil on the paper, isn't it? You can feel Czobel finding his way around the form, with a kind of delicate searching. Look at the way he defines the face. It is made of these simple contours, so direct. The mouth and the eye are especially evocative. They show so much with so little. And what about the hair? See how he uses these quick, short marks to suggest texture and volume? It's almost like he's scribbling, but with a real sense of purpose. I think Modigliani, who was a master of the drawn line, would appreciate the sensitivity and assuredness on display here. This piece reminds us that sometimes, the simplest gestures can say the most.