Huis 1890 - 1946

Editor: Looking at this, I’m immediately struck by the delicate and somewhat melancholic feel of the pencil sketch. There's a fragmented quality to it. Curator: This is a page from Cornelis Vreedenburgh’s sketchbook, titled "Huis", dating from 1890 to 1946. It's a drawing using pencil on paper, and what's really interesting is the glimpse it gives us into the artist's working process and his tools. Editor: Absolutely, that label "Sketcher’s Note Book" – a Windsor & Newton product made in England. We can practically feel the paper texture. Do you think the notes on the side are pricing for different landscapes? Curator: Yes, likely a quick memorandum of prices perhaps for similar works or even costs associated with creating such artworks. The list feels very matter-of-fact compared to the whimsical sketch and hints to market concerns in artistic production. Editor: Interesting. Focusing on the drawing itself, it almost looks like an architectural study imposed on a portrait. There’s an element of internal struggle presented through combined and erased marks. Curator: Indeed. It's a very intimate glimpse into Vreedenburgh's practice. We see not just a finished work, but the raw materiality of artistic creation – the sketchbook itself, the pencil marks, and the way he’s mapped the composition. Editor: You know, this gives a certain reverence to sketchbooks. They document how art is crafted, where commerce is acknowledged. It shows art as more than the product in the gallery. It's the social act of creating art. Curator: Exactly! By displaying the labor involved, by showcasing these usually unseen preparatory works, we shift our perception and highlight how museums, institutions, and economic circumstances really influence both what art is created and how we engage with it. Editor: So, rather than a definitive statement, it’s more like a portal into an artistic life, all captured on a humble sketchbook page. Curator: Precisely, a reminder that art is fundamentally about process and is embedded within the circumstances that fostered its making.