Zittende naakte vrouw 1891 - 1931

Huib Luns created this drawing of a seated nude woman, rendered in soft strokes of graphite and delicate washes of color. The way the artist used a kind of dry brush almost feels like he’s caressing the paper. You can sense him circling and feeling his way around the form. I wonder if Luns was thinking about other artists who also explored the nude form, like Rodin? Or maybe he was just interested in the challenge of capturing the subtle shifts of light and shadow on the body. It’s like you are seeing the model through a soft lens. The muted palette makes it appear that the artist is trying to remember her. I see a connection to the way that Degas did a lot of work on paper. It seems to me that artists are constantly building on the ideas and techniques of those who came before, pushing the boundaries of their chosen medium and finding new ways to express themselves. You can really imagine the artist thinking and experimenting through each stroke and mark.