Vrouw in Romeins gewaad 1907

Bernard Willem Wierink made this print, *Vrouw in Romeins gewaad*, or *Woman in Roman Dress*, sometime around 1907. The palette is restrained, but rich with metallic gold balanced against cool blues and grays. The Roman woman is centered, and the radiating lines recall the way an icon is illuminated in a religious painting, though this feels more like an icon of secular power. I'm drawn to the way Wierink combines graphic flatness with subtle tonal variation, making it almost sculptural. The whole image is built from simple shapes but it's the fine lines defining the folds of the woman's dress which make it. It's almost as if this single mark contains the key to understanding the whole composition. When I look at it, I see the influence of artists like Aubrey Beardsley, another artist working at the turn of the century who explored the interplay between line and form, graphic design and fine art.