Lijst met zinnen in Pidgin Engels c. 1916 - 1945

Reijer Stolk made this notebook page – ‘Lijst met zinnen in Pidgin Engels’ – with graphite, I’m guessing, sometime between 1896 and 1945. I can almost feel the scratching of the pencil as it rushes across the page, capturing something between language and image, thought and form. The lines are quick and searching, trying to pin down something slippery. What I love about this piece is the sense of intimacy. It's like eavesdropping on the artist's mind as he works through ideas, making connections, and testing out different possibilities. I see Stolk, pen in hand, scribbling away, lost in his thoughts. He reminds me of Cy Twombly, who also transformed writing into art. Stolk's work is like a reminder that art is always a process, a journey of discovery that unfolds through experimentation and intuition. He invites us to embrace uncertainty and find beauty in the imperfect.