Schetsblad met drie naaktstudies 1891 - 1941

Curator: This sketch is by Leo Gestel and it's entitled “Schetsblad met drie naaktstudies”, dating from between 1891 and 1941. It resides here at the Rijksmuseum, created with charcoal and pen on paper. Editor: Immediately, I notice the stark contrast— the boldness of the charcoal against the aged paper, and the three studies occupying the same field, not quite separate, not quite coalesced. There is a real tension in that undecided state. Curator: It has the look of an artist’s intimate preparatory work, right? Gestel isn't presenting fully realized figures here. What we’re getting are ideas, fleeting impressions perhaps caught on paper. Naked figures… raw expressions, capturing human existence in the purity of nudity. Editor: Definitely preliminary—I see that immediately in the sketchiness of the lines, the pentimenti faintly visible. What’s interesting is how he handles space. The largest figure overlaps the others, asserting a kind of spatial hierarchy even in this loose format. The composition feels dynamic rather than studied, yet intentional. Curator: Consider what nudity represented at this time, beyond the body itself. It signified liberation. A stripping away of societal artifice to get at something true and primal. Editor: Yes, I agree. But at the same time, that crude, blunt shading denies the idealized nude—which I think leads toward modernism's formal concerns, the expression of the line and shape beyond merely representing form. The lines are deliberately crude, rejecting polish. Curator: This wasn’t meant to be seen as polished. These figures echo early religious representations where nudity reflected humility. Gestel might have been consciously subverting classical notions of beauty, reclaiming the naked form as something unadorned and perhaps, even vulnerable. Editor: Interesting parallel with religious imagery. Overall, it’s Gestel's bold immediacy which appeals, regardless of any intended cultural symbolism, with those striking figures caught in ephemeral strokes, it becomes less about ‘nudes’ and more about the immediacy of mark making. Curator: This raw emotion captured and sketched becomes the piece. It reminds me that art-making is both physical and a psychological pursuit. Gestel has made that visible here. Editor: For me, seeing how his exploration of form reveals its most exciting potential is the artwork's biggest value. Each stroke, each variation offers a moment of discovery and delight in this generative drawing process.