Schetsblad met zwevende vrouw met trompet, een reiger en een mand met bloemen 1891 - 1941

This pencil sketch was made by Leo Gestel; it’s a sheet filled with a floating woman with a trumpet, a heron, and a basket of flowers. It’s so direct; you can sense him thinking through images, searching for their core essence. I can imagine Gestel bent over this paper, his brow furrowed in concentration, as he laid down each tentative line. There's something incredibly intimate about seeing these initial marks, the way they capture the energy of his thought process. The heron dangles upside down, its elegant neck arched in a curious angle; the woman with the trumpet seems to be soaring through clouds… I wonder what he was thinking about. Gestel made this around the turn of the century, when everyone was buzzing with new ways of seeing. It reminds me of other artists who were trying to capture dreams and fleeting thoughts, like Odilon Redon. Artists are always riffing off each other, trading ideas across time. It’s like a big conversation that never ends.