Vrouwenborst before 1961

Curator: Before us we have "Vrouwenborst," a drawing by Hans Borrebach, dating to before 1961. It's rendered in ink and pencil on paper, showing clear experimentation with both figuration and abstraction. What's your first impression? Editor: Stark! Almost surgical in its directness. The limited palette forces you to confront the essence of the form, but it still feels delicate because of the lines. Curator: The formal interplay between the line work and the negative space creates a captivating tension. Notice how the curved lines almost self-enclose, defining a volume that is simultaneously present and absent. Semiotically, the breast operates as a potent signifier… Editor: Yes! It feels like a memory fading – those solid blacks hinting at something substantial, now being obscured. Like the suggestion is enough, more complete, than the depiction of a full image. Curator: Indeed. The visible calculations around the form, these almost mathematical annotations at the top, further abstract the subject—dismantling any conventional notions of portraiture. The visible strokes give it a sense of immediacy, an echo of a sketch torn straight from a notebook. Editor: Makes me wonder about Borrebach's relationship with the subject matter. Was this an exploration of objectification? A tribute? This tension is why the abstract is much more compelling than the detailed version, because this simple image gives so much. Curator: That’s precisely the inherent contradiction that elevates it beyond a mere sketch; the work functions both as analytical study and emotional expression, an intersection the artist masterfully exploits. Editor: It becomes more about the emotional space created in between, what emerges out of our assumptions and prejudices than simply representing a thing or form that exists in front of the artist. Curator: So, "Vrouwenborst", ostensibly about a body part, turns out to reflect how our minds perceive, distort, and perhaps, memorialize images that are only hints of things from lived experience. Editor: Definitely a piece to return to, find something else each time, feel things differently. I suspect there is always something new to feel when standing in front of this drawing.