Rechthoeken 1890 - 1946

Cornelis Vreedenburgh made this work, "Rechthoeken," with pencil and ink on paper. You know, sometimes the most interesting art isn't about the final product, but the process, the thinking, the notes. Here, the textures of the paper and the different weights of the pencil lines really grab me. The paper is thin, it's got some age. You can see this in the translucence of the page, there are smudges and it's been torn away from a book or pad. It shows the history of the object. Then there's the writing, some casual annotations about location and price, which contrast with the hard vertical lines and architectural forms, made with a heavier hand. You get the feeling Vreedenburgh was thinking aloud, figuring something out. This makes me think of Cy Twombly, who was also interested in art as a kind of thinking through drawing. Ultimately, art is a conversation, an exploration, not a final statement.