Studie, mogelijk van een schip c. 1888 - 1891

This is Willem Witsen's sketch, possibly of a ship. Created with a few strokes of what appears to be graphite on paper. The image of a boat is a powerful one, evoking journeys, both literal and metaphorical. Throughout art history, vessels have symbolized the voyage of life, or the soul's passage to the afterlife. Think of the Egyptian funerary boats, intended to transport the pharaoh to the realm of the gods. Even today, in our dreams, a ship adrift at sea may symbolize the search for direction. Witsen's simple sketch captures something universal, a primal connection we have with the idea of setting sail into the unknown, and how that simple idea has been with us for millennia.