Zeilschip op een rivier 1900 - 1931

Willem Bastiaan Tholen made this sketch of a sailing ship on a river with graphite. The depiction of a vessel is an age-old symbol of journeys, whether literal or metaphorical, tracing back to ancient times. Consider, for instance, the ship motif in ancient Egyptian funerary art, where boats symbolize the soul's voyage to the afterlife. Similarly, in Greek mythology, ships like the Argo represent heroic quests and the crossing of boundaries into the unknown. The ship as a symbol, however, has a curious duality; it represents not only progress and exploration but also vulnerability and the unpredictable nature of fate. Think of the "ship of fools" motif from the Renaissance period, where the ship becomes an allegory for society adrift. Even in our modern psyche, the image of a ship evokes powerful emotions. It taps into a collective memory of both longing for adventure and the fear of the open sea. It is a potent reminder of our human desire to explore, despite the inherent risks.