Ontwerp voor een penning (?) van gips met hert 1876 - 1947

This plaster round, possibly a medal design, was made by Lambertus Zijl, and it features a deer. Zijl’s approach is pretty direct here, there’s no messing around with color, just a focus on form emerging from the material. It's like he’s saying, "Let's see what this stuff can do." Looking at the surface, you can see the marks of his tools – the gouges and scrapes that define the deer’s form. The texture is rough, almost primal, giving the animal a sense of raw energy. I'm drawn to the way the light catches the edges of the antlers, creating these little highlights that make them almost glow. It reminds me of some of the early modernist sculptors who were also interested in stripping things down to their essence. Maybe someone like Constantin Brancusi, who also had a knack for finding the spirit of a thing in its simplest form. Anyway, it’s a great example of how art can be both simple and profound, and how much can be said with just a few well-chosen marks.