Twee schepen in een haven 1891 - 1941

Editor: We’re looking at “Two Ships in a Harbour,” a drawing by Leo Gestel, created sometime between 1891 and 1941 using charcoal and pen. It has such a stark and brooding quality, despite being a seemingly simple sketch. What stands out to you? Curator: For me, it’s crucial to consider the social and historical currents Gestel was navigating. This period saw immense upheaval – industrialization, war, shifting social structures. How might these tumultuous forces find their way into this harbor scene? Look at the heavy use of charcoal – almost oppressive – obscuring detail. Editor: So, you're saying the darkness might reflect the anxieties of the time? Curator: Exactly. Ask yourself: what is *not* shown? The ships aren't romanticized vessels of trade, connection, or opportunity. Instead, their forms are almost violently reduced and abstracted. Do they appear active or grounded? For whom are the ships *not* moving? Editor: I see your point. The lack of detail makes them almost anonymous, more like symbols than actual ships. Were such images like those here reflecting on socio-economic and geopolitical realities of the day? Curator: I think it is about both representation and abstraction – of who gets to leave and who gets left behind. Even a landscape can contain complex social and political realities. We might ask ourselves whose stories or whose bodies aren't being included here. Editor: I had only seen it as a harbor scene, but I understand it better. Thanks for pointing to socio-historic relevance to this drawing, so that I realize a landscape and its abstraction may carry diverse themes. Curator: And those themes reflect broader human experiences, even now. Art becomes a lens to examine not just the past, but our present and future.