Zonnebloemen in een vaas c. 1916

Editor: We’re looking at "Sunflowers in a Vase," a drawing made around 1916 by Reijer Stolk, currently held in the Rijksmuseum. It’s… tentative, almost shy in its lines, like a fleeting thought captured in pencil. I wonder, what strikes you most about it? Curator: It whispers of beginnings, doesn’t it? The raw energy of an idea taking shape. It feels like a glimpse into Stolk's private conversation with himself. Look at the deliberate uncertainty, the almost Cubist angles softening into the recognisable form of the flowers. Are those truly sunflowers? Or an idea of sunflowers? Editor: I see what you mean, it's less about botanical accuracy and more about capturing a feeling, a spark. But there’s also a structural element, this grid in the background - is that just part of the composition, or could it be symbolic? Curator: Good eye! Maybe a window, maybe the frame of his own artistic process, hemming him in, yet defining him! These raw sketches allow the mind wander... perhaps beyond the vase, beyond the flowers themselves. A single unanswered, and perhaps unanswerable question... Who, or what, were the sunflowers for? Editor: So, it’s less about what’s on the page, and more about the questions it evokes. That changes my entire perspective. Curator: Exactly! It’s like catching a glimpse of Stolk wrestling with form, light, the very essence of how we perceive beauty. Isn't it wonderful? Editor: Absolutely. It reminds us that even unfinished ideas can be profoundly insightful and speak to the potential within the creative process. Curator: Indeed! And perhaps, inspires us to embrace our own initial sparks.