Jacqueline Royaards-Sandberg 1877 - 1928

Cornelis Spoor made this drawing of Jacqueline Royaards-Sandberg, we don't know exactly when or with what, but it looks like graphite on paper to me. The artist coaxes out a likeness through the gentle accumulation of many tiny marks. It's a process of building, almost like knitting. Look closely and you'll see that the texture is everything here. It's not about sharp lines, but soft smudges, and the way the light seems to catch on the paper. It's a quiet symphony of gray tones that gives the portrait a kind of emotional depth. See how the collar is rendered with these tiny, flickering strokes? It’s almost like Spoor is trying to capture not just the way it looks, but the way it feels. Spoor’s approach reminds me a little of Vuillard, that same sensitivity to the quiet dignity of his subjects. It’s a reminder that art isn’t about perfect representation, but about embracing the beauty of the imperfect, the ambiguous.