Paard en de achterbenen van een paard 1906 - 1945

This is Reijer Stolk’s line drawing of “Horse and the Hind Legs of a Horse” held at the Rijksmuseum. The sketch uses a minimal approach, focusing on the animal's form with an economy of line, yet there's a sense of dynamism and life in the rendering. The composition is divided into two distinct parts. At the top is a horse, depicted in a hunched posture, perhaps grazing. Below, the hind legs of a horse are sketched in a more abstract manner, with a focus on musculature and the angles of the joints. Stolk's deliberate use of negative space is striking. The blank areas around and within the forms allow the viewer's eye to complete the shapes, creating a sense of movement and depth. The drawing can be seen as an exploration of form and motion through the simplest means, where the act of drawing itself becomes a form of inquiry. There’s a raw, immediate quality to the work. The sketch captures the essence of the subject in an almost elemental way, inviting us to contemplate the underlying structure and vitality of the animal.