Portret van Jan Toorop 1920 - 1922

This is Leo Gestel's portrait of Jan Toorop, made with brush and ink, a study in grayscale. I imagine Gestel, with brush in hand, circling his subject, capturing Toorop’s likeness in broad, sweeping strokes. The hair, a wild halo, frames a face etched with thought. Gestel's ink is neither polite nor shy. See how the brushstrokes build up the brow like a stormy sky over the eyes, pooling in shadow, suggesting the weight of contemplation, or maybe just the burden of sitting still. The ink bleeds and feathers, it softens the edges of the face, giving it a ghostly presence. Gestel painted in a period that birthed so many new ways of seeing, Cubism, Futurism, Expressionism. Like his contemporaries, Gestel was pushing the boundaries of representation. This portrait, though, feels more intimate, a quiet moment between artists, rendered in shades of grey. It’s as if Gestel, through the act of painting, is having a conversation with Toorop, gesture by gesture, across time.