Saturnus in een medaillon 1900 - 1903

Antoon Derkinderen made this drawing, 'Saturnus in een medaillon', with pencil, and you can really see the process. There are no confident, bold marks here. Instead, it’s all tentative lines, and rubbings out—a real sense of searching. Look at the surface of the paper, it's so tactile. You can almost feel the grain and the give of it under the pencil. This isn’t about a grand statement, but about gentle exploration, and the pleasure of looking. The central medallion is a classic profile, but it’s soft and blurred, and the composition is very intriguing. This reminds me of Paula Rego. She was also interested in mythology, and storytelling, but with a really different, quite radical edge. It’s interesting to see how artists return to these stories again and again, bringing their own personal twist. For Derkinderen, it's a quiet, thoughtful space, where the act of drawing itself is as important as the image that emerges.