Buste van een jonge vrouw met opgestoken haar en profil 1879 - 1952

This portrait of a young woman with her hair up was etched by Louis Valtat, but we don’t know when. You can really see the artist exploring the possibilities of mark-making with the etching needle. I imagine Valtat feeling a certain sense of freedom as he made this image, letting lines emerge and dissolve. The woman seems to be lost in her own thoughts, her face cast downwards, shadowed, contemplative. It’s such a simple pose but it's full of feeling. Look at the rapid, scratching lines used to render her hair! And compare them with the finer, more delicate lines used to define the contours of her face. It’s like he's exploring different modes of seeing, different emotional registers, all within the same work. I feel like I can see him working! Painters, like writers and musicians, are always riffing off one another, remixing and reimagining what has come before, and laying down material for future generations to pick up.