Her Law School Days

Her Law School Days not only displays the artist’s talent for draughtsmanship but also presents his mastery for atmospheric representation. The artist’s use of charcoal and pastel on thickly woven paper lends a contemplative atmosphere to the work. The title Her Law School Days suggests a nostalgic ambiance as we join the subject in a huddled corner as she puts a cigarette to her lips and perhaps reflects on a past era of her life. There is a contrast between the warm yellow pastel to the right of the composition, and the dark shadow-like charcoal of the left; this shadowing suggests an adjacent warm light source as if the subject has just briefly stepped outside. There is a certain incongruence between the subject and title as the rounded cheeks and eyes of the woman suggest a youth that is inconsistent with the nostalgic title. The suggestion of narrative that pervades this composition is typical of Kitaj’s oeuvre.

Sandra Fisher, a fellow artist who would become Kitaj’s wife, played a large part in the trajectory of his artistic practice, and she in particular was the one to encourage him to revisit drawing once they were reacquainted in the late 1960s in London. This return to drawing defined a large part of his career which he linked directly with the influence of earlier exemplar draughtsmen, such as Degas. The reminiscence of Degas’ style - of dragging the pastel in order to create patches of colour - can be seen in the warming tones to the right of the composition. When discussing Degas’ work Kitaj proclaimed, ‘The drawings of Degas are one of those artistic achievements by which I measure all art’ (R. Morphet (ed.), R.B. Kitaj, London, 1994, p. 20).