Lossend schip op een strand 1917 - 1970

Adrie Vürtheim made this drawing of a ship run aground right there on the beach, sometime in the twentieth century. I'm imagining her sitting there on the sand with her ink and pen, staring out at this big, stranded object. She’s watching the scene unfold: figures unloading cargo from ship to shore, and the horse-drawn carriage, patiently waiting for its turn. I see a web of quick, gestural lines, and the hatching marks suggest three-dimensional form and shadow. You can almost feel the briny air and hear the creaking of the ship, can't you? It's all about these immediate, responsive gestures. And I think that's the real subject here. That's what connects Vürtheim to the rest of us—this ability to translate something you’re seeing into a drawing, and then let it go. It’s like she’s showing us how to be present.