Seated Female Nude 1891 - 1941

Leo Gestel made this drawing of a seated female nude with charcoal on paper. I'm really drawn to the raw, unrefined quality of this nude, like it was coaxed into being, line by line. Gestel has captured this figure with such directness, you can almost feel the pressure of the charcoal as it moved across the page, feeling its way around her body. I imagine he was fully absorbed in the here and now, watching as the body emerged from the surface of the paper. Look at the weight and heft of her torso and thighs, the line is thick and dark, while other marks around her face are thin and tentative. Gestel’s attention to the mass and volume reminds me of Picasso's charcoal drawings. These artists show that the human form is more than just a shape; it’s a place of inquiry, an ongoing conversation about how we see and experience the world.