Czobel Bela 1920 Ülő Nő 1920

Bela Czobel made this drawing of a seated woman in 1920, and it feels like he was working quickly, maybe even impatiently. You can see the marks of the charcoal, how he built up the dark tones by layering line after line. The surface is really alive with energy. The charcoal is smudged in some areas, but sharp and defined in others, like around the head and the leg of the chair. I love the way he used the grid pattern of the chair to create a sort of halo effect behind the woman, breaking up the solidity of her form. Czobel's earlier work was often more colorful and Fauvist in style, but here he's stripped things down to the essentials. It reminds me a little of some of Matisse's line drawings. It's all about suggestion, about capturing the essence of a figure with the fewest possible strokes, and letting the viewer fill in the blanks. In the end, the simplicity really lets you connect with the piece.