Pianospelende man 1906 - 1945

Reijer Stolk made this drawing, Pianospelende man, with graphite on paper. The quick, jittery lines are what get me. Stolk really scratched the surface of the paper, didn't he? It’s almost like he was trying to keep up with the music, to capture the exact moment before it slipped away. You can almost feel the pianist’s concentration as he works, his fingers dancing on the keys. Is he playing something melancholic, or upbeat? I wonder what it was like for Stolk to create this drawing. Was he in a crowded bar, quickly trying to sketch the musician before the set ended? Or was he in a more formal setting, carefully studying the pianist’s technique? I wonder if other artists like Picasso, Matisse, or Kirchner, working at a similar time to Stolk, would have been looking at the same piano player. Artists all riff on each other, just like musicians. They echo and build on each other's ideas, creating something new and unique.