Left border woman 1913

Ferdinand Hodler made this drawing of a woman with graphite on paper. It’s so light and tentative, you can see the lines searching for the form. I can imagine Hodler standing in front of his model, quickly trying to capture the pose. There’s a real sense of movement here, the figure looks like she’s in motion, maybe about to dance. The sketchy lines give it a raw, unfinished quality, like he’s thinking through the form as he goes. Look at the way he’s built up the shading on her dress, it gives it volume and weight. This reminds me of other artists like Degas, who also loved to capture figures in motion. You get the feeling that artists are always looking at each other's work, picking up on ideas and pushing them further. What can we learn from each other, and where can we take it? I find that exciting.