Contemporânea magazine, No. 5, Desenho 1922

This drawing by Mily Possoz was made for Contemporânea magazine, which I imagine must have been a pretty chic publication back in the day! I’m thinking of the artist, Possoz, alone in the studio, her pen hovering over the paper. Was it a scratchy nib? Did it glide? I imagine her making marks, deciding to go here and there with her lines. The woman's gaze is so enigmatic; she seems to be inviting us into her world, while at the same time keeping us at a distance. There's a looseness to the drawing, especially in the hatching of the chair and in the dark mass of the figure's hair. This piece makes me think about other artists who have explored similar themes of modernity and identity. Artists are always in conversation, riffing off one another, inspiring new ways of seeing. It's all about keeping the dialogue alive.