Untitled

Untitled

Elie Nadelman

1913

ink

From the collection of Museum of Modern Art

About this work

This drawing shows a woman’s face and shoulders in profile, resting her head on her hand. The lines are simple but packed tight—no shading, just ink strokes that build up texture. Her hair and clothing are made of short, parallel lines, almost like stitching. The artist used a technique called cross-hatching to create depth without color. It’s all about layers of lines, not shadows. Look up cross-hatching to see how it works in other art.

More by Elie Nadelman

Artifact World Gallery — 100,000 artworks Get the app