Schetsboek met 58 bladen c. 1848 - 1854

This is a sketchbook with 58 pages, made by Christian Heinrich Gottlieb Steuerwald. The book is bound in what appears to be a coarse, undyed textile which gives the surface an almost topographic texture, like a muted landscape in its own right. Looking at the book, our focus isn't drawn to a particular image or composition, but rather to the very structure that holds the artist's work. It reminds us that every drawing, every sketch, is part of a larger practice, a continuous process of thinking and seeing. The book acts as a sign, referencing both the intimate process of artistic creation and the potential for infinite narratives contained within. The dimensions of the book, its width and depth, gives us a sense of volume. The sketchbook functions as a container, preserving the artist's fleeting ideas and sketches. The blank pages, as a canvas for future drawings, invite us to reflect on the nature of beginnings. It is a physical object whose form and materiality speaks volumes about the creative process itself.