Stoel en vazen c. 1916

Reijer Stolk made this drawing of a chair and vases with pencil on paper. The lines are tentative, searching, as if the artist is feeling his way through the forms, figuring out the shapes and relationships between the objects. I can imagine Stolk sitting in a room, maybe his own home, looking intently at these familiar objects. He’s trying to capture not just their appearance, but also their essence. The chair, with its elegant curves and sturdy legs, seems to hold a quiet dignity. The vases, simple and graceful, add a touch of domesticity. The act of drawing itself becomes a form of inquiry, a way of understanding the world through observation and mark-making. It reminds me of other artists who have used drawing as a means of exploration, like Philip Guston, who embraced the messy, imperfect quality of the medium to create deeply personal and expressive works. There is something so intimate and vulnerable about a sketch like this.