Segelboote vor Knokke 1913

Adolf Hölzel sketched "Segelboote vor Knokke" with charcoal on paper, capturing boats near Knokke. Look closely at how Hölzel used charcoal. You see the strokes, the smudges, the varying pressure. Charcoal is a humble material, easily erased and reworked. It invites experimentation. Notice how Hölzel hasn't blended everything smoothly. He leaves traces of the process visible. You can almost feel his hand moving across the page, searching for the right lines. This isn't about perfect representation, but about the act of seeing and recording. The sketch emphasizes the labor involved in creating an image. It challenges the traditional notion of the artist as someone who effortlessly produces a finished masterpiece. Instead, we see the artist as a worker, grappling with form and composition. This work invites us to value the process of making, to appreciate the marks of the artist's hand, and to recognize the inherent worth of both skilled and unskilled labor.