Grazend schaap 1906 - 1945

Reijer Stolk sketched 'Grazend schaap' with graphite on paper, and what strikes me is how this isn't one sheep, but a sheep in time. There is a lightness to the marks, a sort of searching for the form. It's as if Stolk is feeling his way around the sheep, mapping its presence with the barest of lines. The graphite is thin, almost transparent, allowing the paper to breathe beneath. It feels immediate, a direct response to seeing. Look at the legs of the lowest sheep – those quick, scratchy lines that suggest movement and weight. They're not precious; they're honest. And that honesty, that willingness to let the process show, is what makes this sketch so compelling. It reminds me a little of drawings by Klimt, that same interest in the power of line. It's like Stolk is saying, "Here's a sheep, but also, here's how I see a sheep, here's how seeing feels."