Elli Tompuri 1904

Here's a drawing of Elli Tompuri by Albert Edelfelt, and you can feel the artist really thinking with the charcoal. I love this portrait's provisional quality, as if it's still in the process of becoming. You know, the artist starts with a few lines, then they build, adjust, and maybe erase, always searching. I wonder if Edelfelt struggled with this one. Is it the subject's gaze or her posture that he is trying to capture? The charcoal is kind of dry and crumbly, and Edelfelt hasn't blended it all that much, so you can see each stroke. It's like each mark is a little decision, a thought made visible. The hair and dress are swirling masses of hatched marks, creating a sort of halo effect and setting off the more resolved face. And in the end, it’s this feeling of openness, of searching and questioning, that makes the work so alive, so immediate.