Egyptian Princess c. 20th century

Herbert G. French made this small portrait, titled "Egyptian Princess," sometime between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, using graphite on paper. The graphite gives it this hazy, dreamlike quality, almost like a memory fading at the edges. Look closely, and you'll see how French uses the graphite less to define a precise form and more to suggest a presence. The texture is smooth, almost velvety, but the strokes are soft, yielding a subtle play of light and shadow that is so evocative. The way the graphite softly defines the contours of her face, the delicate shading around her eyes, invites you to imagine the person and the artist’s interpretation. I think of artists like Symbolist Odilon Redon and his dreamy, atmospheric charcoal drawings. Like Redon, French isn’t so much interested in capturing an external likeness, but rather in conjuring a feeling, an atmosphere, that is more about suggestion than exact representation. It’s an approach that embraces uncertainty, which is what makes looking at art so interesting.