Vogelmotief c. 1916 - 1945

Curator: Here at the Rijksmuseum, we have a drawing titled "Vogelmotief," or "Bird Motif," likely created between 1916 and 1945, possibly by Reijer Stolk. It's a fascinating sketch in graphite and blue ink on paper. Editor: My initial impression is a kind of playful whimsy. The thin lines create a delicate feeling, almost like a fleeting thought captured on paper. There's a looseness to the composition that’s quite appealing. Curator: What's intriguing is the combination of the bird, rendered with an almost decorative flair, alongside other abstract geometric shapes. The positioning is such that we can appreciate this piece beyond any artistic intentions; such as considering Stolk's inspiration to move toward art for advertising campaigns, as seen across Europe after the war. Editor: Yes, the shapes offer a compelling counterpoint to the naturalism of the bird. Look at the lines and curves of the shapes versus the feathers of the bird. They play with the sense of weight and depth, almost flattening the picture plane. Curator: Precisely! And if we see it through a slightly different lens, we observe Stolk reflecting society’s optimism for the future post-World War I. There was an attempt to reconcile pre-war idealism, and one way to do this was using abstracted representations that, nonetheless, had symbolic value in art to make these ideals palatable to broader audiences. Editor: I see it now. And given your insight, I begin to see that it’s more than just playful whimsy. There is depth. A carefully balanced study that captures, in my reading of it now, the hopes and questions of its time. Curator: It serves as an example of the kind of visual language being formulated in that interwar period, where artists attempted to move art out of academic exhibition halls and introduce imagery in more social contexts. Editor: Thank you. It is incredible how viewing a sketch more attentively has revealed such insight and appreciation. Curator: Exactly, there's more to this sketchbook than meets the casual eye.