Abklatsch van de krijttekening op pagina 23 c. 1887 - 1888

Editor: This is "Abklatsch van de krijttekening op pagina 23," a drawing by Willem Witsen, from around 1887. It looks like pencil and other dry media on paper. It's... very faint. Almost ghostly. What do you see in this piece? Curator: It strikes me as a fragmented memory. Note how the imagery, while Impressionistic in style, uses architectural elements in ways that convey emotional weight. See how the blurred forms become symbolic? Editor: Symbolic of what, exactly? I'm struggling to make out what it actually *is*. Curator: Consider the "Abklatsch"—literally, a "rubbing" or "copy." It already implies a remove from an original source. It's not *the* building, but an echo of it. Perhaps it’s less about the physical structure, and more about how architecture and landscape can anchor personal memory? How place holds emotion? Editor: So, the vagueness is intentional, reflecting the fading quality of memories themselves? Curator: Precisely! And beyond personal experience, we also have shared, cultural memories. What feelings are conjured up in *you* when viewing architectural forms depicted in a ghostly fashion? Do they stir collective histories of loss, longing, or resilience? Editor: I hadn’t considered it on that broader scale. It does feel like a whisper from the past, now that you mention it. Thanks! Curator: A whisper indeed, inviting us to contemplate not just what is depicted, but what has been lost, and what remains.