Vrouw met een muts 1890 - 1922

This is Johanna van de Kamer's pencil sketch of a woman with a bonnet. The marks are tentative and searching. You can see the process, the erasures, the redrawing of a line; it’s all laid bare for us. I’m drawn to the soft shading around the woman’s face, it gives her a quiet, contemplative presence. See how the lines describing the pillow or headrest behind her are much bolder, more assertive. They create a sense of depth and space but also, maybe, a sense of unease or confinement. I’m reminded of Paula Modersohn-Becker, another artist who, like van de Kamer, died far too young. Both artists had an unflinching eye, a willingness to depict the everyday, and a deep empathy for their subjects. Art isn’t about answers, it’s about questions. And this drawing, with its delicate lines and uncertain shadows, leaves me with so many questions.