Schetsen van vrouwen 1876 - 1951

This page of sketches by Theo Nieuwenhuis is made with graphite, maybe charcoal, you know, something soft and smudgy that makes a mark easily. It’s more like he's feeling his way into their forms. There’s something tender about the way these women are rendered. Are they from his memory? Studies from life? Quick impressions of a place he visited? I see him, in my mind’s eye, rapidly capturing the nuances of their poses, how they hold themselves. Like the woman standing, arms akimbo, with a strange kind of confidence, or another bent double lifting a bucket. There’s a real humanity here. You know, making paintings and drawings is like having a conversation with the world, an ongoing exchange of ideas across time, inspiring each other's creativity. Nieuwenhuis is feeling his way in the dark here, and that’s what makes it so affecting.