Vrouw die op een stoel naast een wieg zit 1887 - 1920

This etching, “Vrouw die op een stoel naast een wieg zit,” was made by Albert Roelofs at some point between the late 19th and early 20th century. The image is dark and moody. It feels like a fleeting glimpse of domestic life. I wonder what it was like for Roelofs, alone with his plate and needles, trying to get the feeling just right. See how he suggests the folds of the dress with these short, repeating marks, like the scratching of a pen. The light seems to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once, a diffused glow that softens the edges and creates a sense of intimacy. I’m reminded of Paula Modersohn-Becker and her paintings of motherhood, or even Käthe Kollwitz. Artists, they’re always looking, responding, picking up on each other's rhythms, like musicians in a band. It makes you think about the act of looking, not as passive reception, but as active creation.