Studie van een linkerarm die een stok vasthoudt 1902

This is a study of a left arm holding a stick, made with pencil on paper by Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst in 1902. You can really see the hand pressing firmly around the stick, there's a tension there, like they are about to use it for something. I find the process so visible here, those marks building up the form so clearly. It is not concealed at all. You can see how the artist is working it out. The lines of shading are quite decisive, with some areas densely worked and others quite faint, especially as you move along the arm. There is a real sense of physicality in this piece, you can feel the weight of that arm. Looking at Holst's process reminds me of Cézanne's commitment to observation, that same dedication to understanding form through repeated study. And, like a Cezanne, there's no one right answer. It embraces ambiguity and remains open to multiple readings.