Palm en geometrische patronen c. 1916 - 1945

Reijer Stolk made this pencil sketch, called Palm en geometrische patronen, sometime before 1945. It is all about the layering of the marks, the way one idea sits on top of another. The whole thing feels like a jumble of thoughts on a page, a process laid bare. I'm drawn to how the palm tree, sketched with loose, flowing lines, contrasts with the sharp, geometric patterns above. It’s like Stolk was playing with the tension between the organic and the structured, the natural and the man-made. Look closely, and you'll see the graphite is soft, almost smudged in places, giving the drawing a hazy, dreamlike quality. There’s a real energy here. This reminds me of Paul Klee's playful approach to form, that willingness to let the image unfold intuitively. I love the way art is an ongoing conversation between artists. It leaves you wondering, what was Stolk thinking?