Vignet voor boek 'L'art Hollandais contemporain' van Paul Fierens 1930 - 1933

Leo Gestel made this vignette for a book with ink on paper, and you can see the urgency in the marks. It’s like he’s trying to capture something fleeting, a thought or an emotion. The whole thing feels like a process, a kind of thinking-through-drawing. Look at how the ink bleeds into the paper, creating these soft edges. Then there’s the contrast of the stark black lines against the white ground, really graphic. The texture of the paper itself becomes part of the piece, adding another layer of depth. Those heavy strokes around the eyes, for example, they’re almost violent, but then the mouth is so gentle. It’s a real push and pull. Gestel’s work reminds me of Emil Nolde, both artists have this raw, expressive quality. Ultimately, this little drawing embraces ambiguity, and that’s what makes it so compelling. It’s not about a fixed image but about the act of seeing, feeling, and making.