Kop 1906 - 1945

Reijer Stolk's drawing, "Kop," probably made in the early 20th century, looks like it might have been quickly sketched in pencil. I can imagine Stolk holding his pencil loosely, letting it move almost on its own accord. It's so spare, but manages to capture something essential about this face. The lines are tentative, searching, like the artist is trying to grasp a fleeting thought. He is probably trying to capture the expression of the model. There's a real vulnerability in these lines, a sense of the artist's own uncertainty. It makes me think about other artists, like Giacometti, who used line in a similarly exploratory way. It’s like Stolk is not just depicting a face, but also the very act of seeing. These marks, to me, speak volumes about the human condition, and the shared experience of trying to make sense of the world around us.