A Couple Minutes

A Couple Minutes is a portrait in pure charcoal: a woman with long dark hair and half-closed eyes, her shoulders wrapped in loose white drapery, while a small bird with open wings rests at her shoulder. The dark ground absorbs most of the figure, leaving the face and the fabric to carry the light.

Working in charcoal alone, without paint, Ritchelly Oliveira builds deep blacks and soft folds of cloth with a control that is easily mistaken for photography. The artist has said that black and white allows the viewer to read their own colours into a work; here the restraint gives the moment the stillness its title suggests.

Unique work, charcoal on canvas, 90 × 70 cm (35.4 × 27.6 in). Born in Brazil in 1993 and trained in Visual Arts at the Federal University of Goiás, Ritchelly Oliveira has worked with the human figure since 2012. His work has been exhibited in Goiânia, Berlin, Miami, New York and Los Angeles, including the solo exhibition Fragility at La Brea Studio in 2023, and has appeared in international art publications such as Beautiful Bizarre.

Available for private viewing at Tilsitt Gallery in Porto, or worldwide delivery upon inquiry.