Vrouw en meisje op een regenachtige straat 1892 - 1947

Curator: This delightful little sketch is titled "Vrouw en meisje op een regenachtige straat" or "Woman and girl on a rainy street," created by Gijsbertus Johannes van Overbeek sometime between 1892 and 1947 using pen and ink. What strikes you about it initially? Editor: Gloom. That's my first thought, the entire scene is overshadowed despite its charming details. Curator: It certainly captures a dreary day. Notice how van Overbeek uses densely packed lines to create shadows and convey the feeling of wetness on the street. It reminds me of the Impressionists' attempts to capture fleeting moments in urban life. Editor: Yes, but instead of light, he captures shadow! There's an interesting structural tension. The figures are clustered yet distinctly isolated. Each absorbed by their individual umbrellas like characters from a film noir. Curator: Precisely. Observe the slight bending of the figures and how this directs your focus deeper into the drawing. What looks to be a building sits to the left which frames the people. And that adult woman at the forefront—almost seems as if she’s caught in some form of disagreement with her mouth wide open in dialogue. Editor: Her mouth is certainly a focal point, creating visual disruption! It's a study in gesture, almost theatrical with an umbrella nearly hiding the group to the center. Her strong facial gestures are mirrored in the small details of the dress, and other items that pull together to give that expressive moment. Curator: Agreed! These pen-and-ink sketches, of everyday street life have an immediacy which really lets one in, in this particular piece there is something that keeps pulling you back to this feeling of dread which seems unresolvable given its context; an interesting juxtaposition by Overbeek in an urban setting that has stood the test of time given how old it is too. Editor: Absolutely. A moment captured, distilled, and leaving us with lingering grey thoughts. What a way to commemorate a gloomy day with art.