Studies van een vis, met kleurnotities 1876 - 1924

Editor: Here we have Gerrit Willem Dijsselhof's "Studies van een vis, met kleurnotities," likely created between 1876 and 1924. It’s a graphite and pencil drawing. I'm immediately struck by how fleeting it feels, almost like capturing a thought. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Ah, a humble fish, immortalized not in oil paints, but in the fleeting touch of graphite. To me, it whispers of stolen moments – the artist, perhaps, observing his dinner with the keen eye of a naturalist, a scientist, and a poet, all rolled into one. It’s a glimpse into his personal sketchbook, that sacred space where ideas are born kicking and screaming…or perhaps, shimmering and scaling? The notations scrawled across the paper aren't just about color, are they? They’re about light, texture, even…taste? Editor: Taste? That’s an interesting angle. I hadn’t considered that. Curator: Imagine the fishmonger's slab, the cold gleam of the scales under the flickering lamplight… Could he have been thinking about how to recreate that specific 'vochtig blank en gris’ - ‘moist blank and grey' – in a future piece? Perhaps he savored both its form and flavor. He's definitely looking at reflecting light, the underbelly… that gloss. Are you sure those scribbles refer to pigment rather than culinary possibility? It begs the question, how far can you reflect emotion or mood via the everyday subject of fish? Editor: I suppose it is open to interpretation...I definitely didn't see the culinary connection before. That makes this quick sketch feel so much richer. Curator: Exactly. What began as a mundane observation blossoms into a contemplation of mortality, beauty, and maybe even… the perfect sauce. What about you, anything stick? Editor: The 'light pencil work' really captured something about this work. Thanks to you, I feel I learned something fresh here. Curator: Then our little fishy has served its purpose well.