Drie zwarte paarden staand naar links kijkend 1935 - 1936

Leo Gestel made this drawing, Drie zwarte paarden staand naar links kijkend, with brush and India ink. The process is laid bare; you can see every stroke, every decision. Gestel’s mark-making feels so immediate. The texture of the ink on paper gives a velvety quality, a stark contrast that almost vibrates, and the starkness somehow enhances the emotional depth. Look at the way the legs are rendered: just a few quick strokes, yet they convey movement and tension, like a snapshot of energy. The negative space is just as important, giving the horses room to breathe, to exist. Gestel was wrestling with modernism, just like Franz Marc, who also had a love for horses, but Gestel’s expression feels rawer, less romantic, more about the act of seeing and recording. It’s a reminder that art isn’t about perfection but about process, about the dialogue between artist and material, and ultimately, about the conversation we have with the work itself.