Figures Décoratives 1905

Alphonse Mucha made this drawing, called Figures Decoratives, with ink on paper. You can see how he built up the image with thousands of tiny lines. I wonder what it was like for Mucha to sit and make this image, with the ink bleeding ever so slightly into the page. Did he take breaks and stretch his hands? I feel like I can see how the artist paused and then resumed his drawing, looking, thinking, inking and looking again. The textures of the fabrics are really beautifully rendered. There is an almost photographic quality to the image. Mucha was deeply interested in ornamentation, and you see that here in the headdress and garments. His other works are full of pattern too. Art is like a conversation across time. Artists respond to each other's ideas and keep them alive. It's wonderful to think about how there's no right or wrong way to interpret a painting, and how each viewing can bring something new.