Female Torso I 1962

William Brice made this lithograph, Female Torso I, at an undetermined date. Look at the network of tiny, energetic marks the artist uses to build up the form. I love that we can see the evidence of the process, not in a labored way, but spontaneous, as if the artist were thinking through the image as he made it. The black ink on the off-white paper has a beautiful, slightly granular texture. The marks are densely packed in some areas, like around the head and upper chest, and more sparse in others, creating a sense of light and shadow that models the figure. It’s like Brice is feeling his way around the form, tentatively, carefully. See how the simple shift in the direction of the marks can describe the softness of the breasts, or the curve of the neck. This makes me think of other artists who use a similar approach, like de Kooning, who was also interested in the female form and the power of the expressive line. It is a testament to the ongoing conversation in art, where artists build upon and respond to the ideas of those who came before them.