Abklatsch van de tekening op pagina 71 1901 - 1907

Willem Witsen made this ethereal trace of a drawing with pencil on paper. I love the Abklatsch technique – it's like a ghost of a ghost, a copy of something so faint to begin with! What’s interesting here is the texture and surface. The way the pencil has been applied, almost rubbed into the paper, gives it a grainy feel. Look closely at the upper left corner. You can see the build-up of graphite, creating a soft, smudged effect. It's not about precision but capturing a fleeting impression, like trying to hold onto a dream as you wake up. This reminds me a little of Cy Twombly’s scribbled drawings, where the act of mark-making becomes more important than what the marks represent. It’s like Witsen is saying, “Here’s a whisper, a suggestion, now you fill in the rest.” Art isn’t always about answers; sometimes, it’s about embracing the beautiful mystery of not knowing.