Vrouwen met bagage op hun hoofd c. 1932

Reijer Stolk made this work, ‘Vrouwen met bagage op hun hoofd’, using what looks like pen on metal, it’s in the Rijksmuseum. I’m wondering if he was experimenting, or just using what was at hand. The lines are simple, but they carry so much. Look at the way the figures are drawn – the women carrying their burdens, and the babies they also carry. It makes me think about Matisse's line drawings. But the background, that metal surface, it gives the whole thing a strange, ghostly feel. What was Stolk thinking when he made this? Was he trying to capture a moment, or a feeling? Maybe both. It reminds me that art doesn’t always have to be big or loud to be powerful. Sometimes, it’s the quiet, simple gestures that speak the loudest. It’s about seeing what’s there, and then finding a way to show it to the rest of us.