Twee bloemen 1939 - 1941

Leo Gestel made this pencil drawing, "Twee bloemen" – that's "Two Flowers" – on paper, but we don’t know exactly when. You know, there's something lovely about the bare-bones simplicity of this drawing, isn't there? It's like a whisper of an idea, a fleeting thought captured in the most economical way. Look at the lines – they're not precious or overworked; they just *are*. It’s almost like the flowers are emerging right before our eyes! Gestel's use of line is so sparse, yet it manages to convey the essence of each flower. The petals are just hinted at, but you can still sense their delicate curves. And that almost ghostly flower on the right? Is it a memory, a shadow, or a possibility? It reminds me that art is often about what's *not* there, as much as what is. Like the drawings of Cy Twombly. They both teach us that art is an ongoing conversation, full of questions and never-ending possibilities.