Voorstudie van gips voor penning met buffels en paarden. 1876 - 1947

Lambertus Zijl made this plaster study for a medal with buffalos and horses. It’s a small, circular form, a trial, where the artist has dug into the material, coaxing out this scene, like a dream of labor and power. I can imagine Zijl in his studio, hunched over this small disc, his fingers working the plaster, the pressure and resistance shaping the composition. What was he thinking about as he carved these animals into being? How many times did he rework the muscles of those horses, the curve of the buffalo's back? You see the tool marks, the ghosts of gestures, each one a decision, a correction, a step towards this final image. The surface is raw, immediate – not trying to be perfect but capturing a moment, an energy. It reminds me of some of the early modernist sculptors, wrestling with form, trying to capture the essence of movement and life. All artists have conversations across time, echoing and responding to each other. The work of art is a continual, embodied act of inquiry.