Detailstudies van een sterlet 1876 - 1924

Curator: This is "Detailstudies van een sterlet" by Gerrit Willem Dijsselhof, dating from around 1876 to 1924. It's a pencil and graphite drawing here in the Rijksmuseum. What’s your immediate take on it? Editor: Looks like a scientist's notebook exploded onto the page! All angles and inquisitive lines, a bit obsessive, maybe. Definitely makes me wonder about the artist's brain at that moment. Curator: Obsessive, indeed. Look at the precision of line, the repetition of form, the dedicated study of the sterlet from multiple viewpoints. We can appreciate the formal qualities of realism melded into modernism through this study. Dijsselhof seems to deconstruct then reconstruct. Editor: Deconstruct, reconstruct…it’s more playful than that! See how those lines suggest the fish swimming, leaping, maybe even talking back to him! It’s not just analysis; it’s a little conversation with nature, don’t you think? I almost see a story in this one sketch. Curator: It is intriguing how he captures dynamism within still life. And I find that the angular abstractions contribute to this narrative and create visual interest, compelling us to decode form through function. Editor: Exactly! Function gives rise to such amazing forms. Like words from an artist just trying to get a conversation going, with some cool fish from their notebook. It's more about connection, that shared glance between maker and made. Curator: And in our own observation, the cyclical nature of looking…of art continually reflecting. Editor: Right—or, how even just one little fishie sketch in a museum can tell us all we need to know.