Steigerend paard, bloem en kop (schets) before 1941

Leo Gestel made this sketch of a rearing horse, flower and head with brush and ink. The stark monochrome palette really gives the work a jolt, right? I can imagine Gestel's hand moving swiftly, decisively, across the paper. There's a real economy of means here, a confidence in each stroke. It’s like he’s channeling Picasso, only with this sort of Dutch directness. What’s cool is the flower emerging out of the head, the way it becomes a site of thought. It feels like an idea blooming, right there on the page. The rearing horse could symbolize virility, pride. Then I notice how the flower connects with the landscape. It's surreal. This is what abstraction does; it lets you put the world together in new ways. Painting's always trying to get at something that's just out of reach, isn't it?