Going to Bed 1913

Paul-Albert Besnard made this etching, Going to Bed, sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century, using line as his primary way of defining form. There’s something immediate about the cross-hatching, especially where the lines get really close together and create these dark, almost impenetrable shadows around the figure who’s already asleep. Look at the contrast between the density of the marks in the upper left corner and the relative lightness on the pillow, just beneath the sleeping woman. The etched lines create this sense of depth and volume, but the image remains flat, like a dream. Besnard’s been compared to artists like Degas, and there’s something similar in his focus on capturing intimate, everyday moments. But where Degas might use color to create a mood, Besnard relies on the starkness of black and white to evoke a sense of intimacy and introspection. It's as if he wants to show us the raw, unfiltered reality of a moment, without any embellishment. And that, to me, is what makes this piece so compelling.