Dimensions: height 291 mm, width 285 mm
Copyright: Rijks Museum: Open Domain
Leo Gestel made this sketch of a floating woman with a trumpet, a heron, and a basket of flowers at an unknown date. It’s all pencil on paper, with the bare minimum of fuss and detail. For me, the drawing feels like he's thinking out loud, letting one idea lead to another, like a stream of consciousness. It's cool how each element—the woman, the bird, the basket—hovers independently. There’s no real ground, just these figures suspended in a field of creamy paper. What does it mean? Well, nothing has to mean anything. Sometimes it’s just about playing with the possibilities. It reminds me a bit of Redon, or even Picabia, with that playful, anything-goes attitude. Gestel isn't trying to give us answers here. He’s inviting us to ask questions, to imagine our own stories within this beautifully open-ended composition. And that, to me, is what art’s all about.
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