Zittende naakte vrouw 1884 - 1952

Reinier Willem Petrus de Vries made this small print of a seated nude woman, we don't know when. It looks like a lino cut or woodcut. The sepia tones and pared-down form really give it a sense of modesty and tenderness. I imagine de Vries carefully carving out the matrix, using his tools to describe the figure with an economy of means. I wonder what he was thinking about when he made this? I imagine him wanting to find a form of quiet simplicity and reflect on the human body's natural beauty and vulnerability. It reminds me a bit of Paula Modersohn-Becker's prints - the way she used simple means to capture intimate moments of daily life. It’s like there’s an unspoken dialogue going on between artists across time and place - this exchange of ideas and forms that inspire our own creative practice. Painting is a form of embodied expression and allows for multiple interpretations.