Figuur op een brug over een rivier in een boomrijke omgeving 1885 - 1931

Editor: This pen and pencil drawing is titled "Figure on a Bridge Over a River in a Wooded Area" by Willem Bastiaan Tholen, sometime between 1885 and 1931. The hurried strokes and tonal contrast really convey a certain tranquility, even a sort of… wistful impermanence. How do you interpret this work? Curator: Wistful impermanence, I like that. It feels very… honest, doesn't it? Like catching a fleeting thought. What grabs me is the immediacy. Imagine Tholen, sketchbook in hand, quickly capturing a scene that resonated with him. The sketch feels like a secret, almost voyeuristic. Have you ever kept a sketchbook? Editor: Absolutely! Although my "sketches" usually end up looking like chaotic scribbles! I aspire to this kind of confident minimalism. The bare minimum needed to represent something greater. Curator: Exactly! Think of the Impressionists—capturing a momentary feeling over meticulous detail. And Tholen, working en plein air no doubt, distilled this view of a figure contemplating the river down to its purest form. It’s not photographic; it’s felt. What do you think the river represents in this work? Editor: Hmmm… maybe the passage of time, or perhaps the constant current of life, flowing ever forward, while the figure pauses, reflects… Maybe Tholen saw a bit of himself in that solitary figure? Curator: Perhaps! Art at its finest is an open-ended conversation. This sketch, born from a personal moment, now sparks our own reflections. It becomes a mirror, doesn’t it? Editor: Absolutely. It’s amazing how a simple sketch can hold so much. Thanks for illuminating that for me! Curator: My pleasure! Art, after all, is just about seeing the world, and yourself, in a new light.