Meubilair c. 1901

Gerrit Willem Dijsselhof made this furniture design with pencil on paper. It's like catching an artist in thought, isn't it? Dijsselhof sketches in this work how the most basic lines and forms can become something ornate. It’s as if he is saying: "Here is the furniture, here are the components". Take the shape in the lower right corner, for example. Note the way the artist renders the curves, how these are made more or less heavy, more or less dark. Dijsselhof gives us a raw, unfiltered view of artmaking as a process, a kind of ‘working out’ of geometry. The drawing reminds me of the work of Hilma af Klint, another artist interested in basic forms, and what these shapes can signify. Ultimately, Dijsselhof’s sketch invites us to contemplate the creative process and the endless possibilities contained within the simplest of forms.