Aangemeerde roeiboot aan een kade 1914 - 1916

Curator: "Aangemeerde roeiboot aan een kade" or "Moored Rowboat at a Quay" is what Willem Cornelis Rip titled this city scape captured with ink and pencil sometime between 1914 and 1916. It's part of a series of drawings found within his sketchbooks. Editor: It's a lovely little sketch, isn't it? Almost ephemeral. It reminds me of quick notations one makes to capture a fleeting moment; like scribbling down a melody heard in passing, so that one may pick up on it later. Curator: Indeed, it possesses an immediacy often associated with preliminary studies. We see here how the sketchbook became a space for Rip to quickly document impressions of urban environments, using line work to capture the structure of cityscapes. Sketchbooks, you see, served as vital sites of artistic production, outside formal studio constraints, affording artists freedom to experiment. Editor: The way the boat is nestled by the pier—it feels private, a stolen moment in the hustle. It’s almost like Rip wanted to capture not just the place but the *feeling* of the place. Curator: Certainly, one could argue that Rip's involvement with artistic movements of his time also influenced this stylistic tendency; this desire to get at a sense of realism which rejected academic formality. It attempts to capture the sensory experience of the city, even the kind experienced privately within the modern world of industry. Editor: Right! It really emphasizes the value of seeing beauty in the ordinary and accessible nature all around. The composition isn't striking but rather gives the impression that Rip made a quick pen work in his journal, just enjoying the ordinary moment as he rested at the dockyard! Curator: These were tumultuous times on the European stage as World War I raged across nations. One wonders if these tranquil waterfront sketches represented an escape of sorts or perhaps an intentional embrace of normalcy amidst great chaos? Editor: Hmm, interesting angle! It makes me feel a bittersweet sense of longing and an appreciation of little respites—of simply taking a moment to notice the ordinary beauty, just for its own sake. Curator: In viewing this unassuming page from Rip’s sketchbook, perhaps we glimpse into both his practice and his inner life. Editor: A beautiful and thoughtful suggestion. And as we part ways here, let it be with that small nudge to observe the beauty, the magic of the ordinary; just like the artist wanted you to see from this sketch!