Ballerina's Back 1967

Vilen Barsky made this using, it seems, charcoal or maybe a very soft graphite stick. I love the way he's captured a sense of movement with these sweeping, smoky marks. Imagine him, quickly sketching, trying to capture the fleeting grace of a dancer – the charcoal almost like an extension of his own body! The process is all there in the wispy lines. You can see him thinking and rethinking his marks. What was he thinking? Was he trying to capture the way the light catches on the tutu, or the muscles in her back? Or maybe he was interested in the way the human body can be both strong and fragile at the same time. I find it touching, personal, like a love letter to form. It reminds me of Degas, who was also obsessed with capturing the movements of ballet dancers. Artists, we're all in this conversation together, right?