Young Woman Reading (Ines)

Young Woman Reading (Ines), created by Umberto Boccioni between 1909 and 1910, is a masterful example of the artist's expressive style just prior to his definitive commitment to Futurism. Classified as a drawing, this sensitive portrait utilizes a complex combination of charcoal and crayon, heightened with subtle touches of white and brown chalks on paper. The sophisticated application of dry media emphasizes both strong line and atmospheric shadow, capturing the intimate act of reading with intense psychological focus. The controlled yet dynamic rendering showcases Boccioni's early mastery in conveying volume and mood, foreshadowing the formal concerns with movement and energy that would soon define his avant-garde work.

The subject, possibly an acquaintance named Ines, is deeply absorbed in her book, her posture conveying quiet introspection typical of the early twentieth-century preoccupation with individual interiority. Unlike the explosive dynamism that Boccioni would soon champion in Italian modernism, this piece belongs to a series of focused, traditional portraits of women from his pre-Futurist phase. The careful handling of light falling upon the page and the sitter's face creates a powerful sense of concentration and stillness. This historically significant drawing resides in the permanent collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. As a work of this period, the drawing is widely recognized, and high-quality prints of this important piece of Italian modernism are often available through public domain collections for educational and scholarly use.