Studieblad met vrouwen en een ezel bij een tempel en vier paarden 1891 - 1941

This drawing, by Leo Gestel, lives at the Rijksmuseum. It's hard to date, but was probably made with graphite on paper. Looking at the surface, you can sense the artist figuring things out. Gestel's mark-making is tentative, but he is trying out lots of different things all on one page. I wonder what Gestel was thinking when he made this? Was he looking at classical friezes and wanting to re-imagine them? I sympathize with his trying to get the horse right, drawing it falling over and from multiple angles. It reminds me that being an artist is like being an athlete or a dancer, constantly practicing, stretching, and exploring what is possible. The composition reminds me of other artists, like Picasso, who brought different perspectives together in one image, playing with the flattening and cubist fragmentation of space. Gestel has started a conversation through this drawing, and we can answer back. Art is all about the exchange of ideas. It's not about fixed meanings, but about opening up possibilities.