Karikaturaal hoofd van een man met een bril c. 1916

Reijer Stolk made this caricature head of a man with glasses sometime between 1910 and 1945, using pencil on paper. Look at these lines, so full of doubt and wonder. Can’t you just see the artist’s hand moving across the page, feeling its way through the form? Notice how the hatching marks, which build up the shaded areas, seem to vibrate with energy, as if the pencil couldn't quite capture the essence of the sitter. Stolk really embraces the potential of the pencil here, pushing it to its limits. I just love how the artist makes no attempt to smooth things over, leaving all the starts and stops visible for us to see. It's like he's saying, "Here it is, folks, the messy, imperfect truth of seeing." And in that truth, there's a real beauty. We are lucky to be a part of this ongoing conversation between artists and artworks across time and space.