Abklatsch van een krijttekening 1901 - 1907

Willem Witsen made this chalk drawing reproduction, or "Abklatsch," at some point, but we don't know exactly when. Isn’t it interesting how a reproduction can still carry its own weight? There’s a kind of soft focus here. It feels like he’s playing with the idea of something seen through a veil, or maybe a memory fading at the edges. Look closely, and you'll notice these very subtle gradations, almost like a whisper across the paper. There’s a real sensitivity to the touch of the chalk, how it meets the surface, and how it lifts away again. That darker area on the right – it reminds me of a Rothko, not in color, but in the way it sits, brooding, suggesting a depth that’s not really there. Witsen manages to get so much with so little, it’s a reminder that art is as much about subtraction as addition, that leaving things unsaid can often be the most powerful statement of all. Art is always talking to art.