Vrouw met rok over haar hoofd, van achteren Possibly 1651

Harmen ter Borch rendered this small drawing, Vrouw met rok over haar hoofd, van achteren, with pen in 1651. The paper support has a warm tone, against which the ink work provides spare, yet effective delineation. Note the artist's confident hand in the fluid lines that define the figure's draped form. The ink, likely iron gall, possesses a brown-black tonality, characteristic of the era. Pen and ink drawings were common during the Dutch Golden Age for preparatory sketches and studies, but also appreciated as works in their own right. The drawing's intimate scale and directness suggest that ter Borch valued the immediacy of the medium, using the contrast between the paper and ink to capture a sense of form and volume, which is why this sketch seems so fresh, and immediate, even today. This emphasizes how a simple medium can yield profound artistic results.