Vier paarden 1924 - 1941

Leo Gestel made this drawing, Vier paarden, which translates as four horses, at an unknown date using pen and ink. Gestel wasn’t aiming for realism here; he was interested in something more like the feeling of horses. He builds up the image using hatching, little more than a series of parallel lines drawn close together. Look at the way he renders the tails with a kind of sketchy shorthand, and how the manes are almost cloud-like. I like the horse on the middle right; it almost seems to be floating above the ground. Note the simplified horizontal lines used to create the grassy area, and the way that all four animals are looking in different directions. There’s a real sense of energy in this small drawing, and in its simplicity I'm reminded of the work of Franz Marc, but without the bold color. It feels unresolved, like a preparatory sketch rather than a finished work, and it captures a moment in time, an intimate glimpse into the artist's thought process.