Studie c. 1916

Reijer Stolk made this study with crayon, sometime between 1910 and 1940. It's a super minimal piece, right? Just a few marks, but they speak volumes about process. You can almost see Stolk figuring things out as he goes, testing the waters with each line. The crayon isn't laid on thick, but it's there, present in its delicate, almost hesitant way. I love how the paper peeks through, becoming part of the drawing itself. There's a vertical grouping of marks, slightly to the right, like a small gathering. Each is unique, different in length and pressure. Maybe he was thinking about something like a figure, or a plant? It's vague, but that's the beauty of a study like this. It’s like a thought caught mid-stream. This reminds me a little of Cy Twombly, that lovely sense of incompleteness, like art is always in the middle of becoming. It invites us to participate, to bring our own interpretations to the table. Art isn't about answers, it’s about the questions we ask along the way.