Seated Woman Seen from the Back 

James Ensor's "Seated Woman Seen from the Back" is a drawing that captures a figure with a striking lack of sentimentality. The composition is structured around dense, directional hatching, creating a palpable sense of weight and texture. This use of line, rather than delicate shading, suggests a deliberate rejection of traditional academic refinement. The subject, viewed from behind, is rendered with an almost brutal honesty, her form reduced to a mass of intersecting lines. Ensor seems less interested in the individual and more focused on the formal qualities of the image, challenging our expectations of portraiture. The drawing engages with the broader artistic concerns of Ensor's time, reflecting a shift towards abstraction and a preoccupation with the materiality of the medium. Ultimately, this drawing functions as a complex interplay between representation and abstraction. Its value lies not in what it depicts, but how it disrupts established modes of seeing.