Kop van een oude man met een muts 1878 - 1938

This is Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst’s "Head of an Old Man with a Cap", a drawing characterized by its precise linearity and subtle gradations of tone. Notice how the artist builds up the form through a network of fine lines, creating a sense of depth and volume. The composition centers on the subject’s face, rendered with unflinching detail. Each line seems to map the terrain of age, capturing the weight of experience etched into the skin. Holst's structural approach to representation echoes broader philosophical concerns about the relationship between surface and essence. He challenges the viewer to look beyond the immediately visible to consider the deeper structures of meaning at play. Through this close observation and meticulous rendering, the artist invites us to contemplate not just the individual before us, but also the universal themes of aging, mortality, and the human condition. The formal qualities of the artwork are therefore not simply aesthetic choices, but function as carriers of cultural and philosophical meaning, inviting ongoing interpretation and reflection.