Vrouwenhoofd en een gezicht 1891 - 1941

Leo Gestel made this drawing, 'Vrouwenhoofd en een gezicht', with pencil on paper. The artist makes these distinct marks, the strong lines on the face. You can see how the piece has come into being. Layer by layer, shape by shape, shifting and emerging through trial, error, and intuition. I imagine Leo, with a pencil in hand, moving back and forth from his subject, making firm lines. Is it one person or two? The work presents two possible ways of seeing the sitter. Maybe Gestel was thinking of a figure moving through space? You can imagine the pressure of the pencil against the paper. A light touch in one place and a strong definite line in another. It reminds me of cubist portraits. Artists are in an ongoing conversation, they feed off of each other's ideas across time, and inspire each other’s creativity. Painting is an expression, which embraces uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations.