Veiling after 1946

Here's the audio guide script: This linear drawing is by an anonymous artist. It's called 'Veiling' and it's at the Rijksmuseum. Looking at all these figures jostling for space, competing for our attention, I get a sense of the artist’s hand moving quickly, urgently, across the surface. It’s like they’re trying to capture a fleeting moment, a chaotic scene bursting with energy. I can imagine the artist, perhaps perched precariously on a stool, sketching furiously, trying to capture every detail, every gesture, before it vanishes. Maybe they were thinking about how to convey the energy of a crowd, the way individual faces can be lost in a sea of bodies. The thin lines create a sense of movement and flux, as if the whole scene is about to dissolve before our eyes. It reminds me of Daumier’s lithographs, the way he captured the social dynamics of 19th-century Paris with such wit and precision. I imagine the artist might have been inspired by the energy of the place, trying to freeze a moment of intense interaction. After all, artists are always building on each other’s ideas, participating in a visual conversation that spans across time.