Annotaties c. 1915 - 1921

This is ‘Annotations’ by Willem Witsen, made with graphite on paper. It feels so intimate, like stumbling across someone’s private thoughts, jotted down in a moment of contemplation. The paper itself has a beautiful, worn texture, and the graphite marks vary in pressure and thickness. Look at how some lines are bold and assertive, while others are faint and hesitant, almost like whispers. See the way he loops the numerals and letters, connecting them, like a dance across the page. Each number and word appears almost like a drawing in itself. It's like he’s wrestling with his thoughts, working them out right there on the page. There’s a real vulnerability in the way he allows his process to be so visible. You get the sense that, for Witsen, artmaking was not just about the final product, but about the act of thinking and feeling through the medium. It reminds me of Cy Twombly's work, in its expressive use of line and gesture. Ultimately, it's about embracing the beauty of imperfection and the power of suggestion.