Marguerite Gachet at the Piano 1890

Vincent van Gogh made this ink drawing, Marguerite Gachet at the Piano, with pen and ink on paper. It's a rapidly executed sketch, as you can tell from the frenetic, scratchy lines. It's far from a highly finished painting, with a tonal scale going only from white to grey. Notice how the qualities of the ink dictate the image – it is thin and watery, allowing Van Gogh to capture light and shadow with the lightest touch. See how, with a bare minimum of marks, he suggests the form of the pianist, the keyboard, even the wallpaper behind her. This kind of economy was common in commercial illustration of the time, particularly in the popular press. Van Gogh was deeply engaged with that world of mass production, collecting prints and emulating their techniques in his fine art practice. This drawing reflects both his own skill and the wider visual culture of labour and industrial society. It shows how traditional art materials like paper and ink, can incorporate the visual language of mass culture.