Krab bij een schelp c. 1916

Reijer Stolk made this sketch of a crab by a shell with graphite on paper, though the exact date remains unknown. What I find immediately striking is the artist's process, visible through each line. The varying pressure of the graphite reveals a dance between observation and expression, a kind of material thinking. Look at how Stolk uses hatching to build tone and volume. The density of the graphite creates a sense of weight, grounding the form. There is an elegance in the simplicity. It’s about suggestion rather than description. There’s a lineage from Van Gogh, whose drawings share a similar energy and directness. You can see that Stolk is not just recording what he sees but is also actively interpreting and feeling his way through the subject. Art is such a conversation across time, isn’t it? Always open, never quite resolved.