Hein in een tekenles before 1926

Anny Leusink made this drawing, 'Hein in een tekenles', with ink on paper. Just picture that ink spreading! This has a really interesting viewpoint. I wonder if Leusink was trying to think through what it means to be an artist, and I like to think about her up in that attic studio, maybe thinking about what it means to be an artist in relation to a teacher. There's a feeling of being caught between wanting to know and wanting to push back, or maybe an eagerness to learn, but a secret knowledge that you will surpass the teacher one day. I notice how she uses light and shadow to define the space and the figures. It reminds me of the early modernists. Maybe Leusink would go to see exhibitions of their work and then come back here and start experimenting and thinking about the conversations that artists were having. I wonder what she was thinking? For me, art is an ongoing conversation. Every artist is in dialogue with those who came before.