Vensters c. 1916 - 1945

Reijer Stolk made this drawing, Vensters, with pencil on paper. It's a study, I think, and as such it gives us a peek into the artist's thought process. See how tentative the lines are? Stolk is searching for the right form. He even makes notes to himself on colour, in between the windows he's drawing. I love that, it's like he is thinking aloud, showing us how his mind works. The texture of the paper is smooth, almost creamy, allowing the graphite to glide across the surface. Look at the top window – see how the dark shading gives way to a sense of depth? This window is an eye, or a mouth, a void. For me, Stolk's drawing is in conversation with the work of Giorgio Morandi. Both artists found profound beauty in everyday objects. Both explore subtle variations of light and form. There is a quietness in both artists' work that I find really compelling. And like life, the meaning is never truly fixed, is it?