Klokgevel 1901 - 1907

Willem Witsen made this drawing of a clock gable with pen and ink on paper. You can see the delicate dance between the black lines and the creamy surface of the paper, it's all about suggestion, isn't it? I love how the strokes are so economical, just enough to give you the gist of the thing. There’s something very tender about the way Witsen coaxes form out of so little. Look closely, and you see the ink isn’t uniform; it varies from rich darks to gentle grays. It’s almost like he’s whispering the building into existence. This kind of mark-making reminds me a bit of Cy Twombly’s scribbles, though Witsen's got more of an architectural bent. Both artists though, seem to understand that sometimes the sketch, the suggestion, is more evocative than the finished product.