Studies c. 1901

Gerrit Willem Dijsselhof made these studies at an unknown date, probably on paper with a pencil. I love seeing these kinds of drawings. Aren't they great? You get such a sense of the artist's direct way of looking, figuring things out as they go. I'm always looking at how artists translate the world into their own visual language. It's like peeking into their mind, seeing how they simplify and abstract what's in front of them. I can imagine Dijsselhof's process—sitting, looking, sketching, erasing, rethinking. This reminds me of some of my own sketchbooks, the way one idea leads to another, how you just keep going, layering and building. It's all about the gesture, right? The way the hand moves across the page, capturing something essential. It's so human. This makes me think about the ongoing conversation between artists across time, each building on what came before, inspiring the next generation to see the world in new ways.