Zeilboten op een werfhelling 1906 - 1945

Reijer Stolk made this sketch of sailboats with graphite on paper. I can imagine Stolk standing there, quickly capturing the boats in a shipyard. He’s trying to get the gist of the scene, and the confidence of the lines shows he really knows what he’s looking at. It’s like he’s saying, “Okay, boat-ness, I see you.” I can imagine him squinting his eyes, filtering out the details to focus on the essentials. Look at the rhythm of those vertical lines, how they suggest the towering masts and hulls. And the quick, horizontal strokes that imply the docks and scaffolding. He’s not just drawing boats, he’s drawing the space around them, the energy of the shipyard. There’s a real sense of place. It reminds me of other painters, like Mondrian, who were also trying to reduce the world to its basic shapes and lines. Artists are in this constant conversation, seeing what others have done and then adding their own voice to the mix. It’s a beautiful, messy process, like life itself!