Bij de tandarts c. 1970 - 1980

Rein Dool made this drawing, "Bij de tandarts," with pencil on paper. It looks like a quick study; a moment captured with minimal fuss. I can imagine Dool in his studio, grabbing a pencil to sketch this scene. The dentist's office is a place of anxiety, and Dool captures that tension with a few quick lines. The dentist is looming with those angry eyebrows. And the patient is holding a flower for comfort! It is all a bit gothic, don't you think? The lightness of touch here is remarkable. You see it in the tentative lines forming the figures and the barest suggestion of the dentist's tools hovering above. This reminds me of other artists who use drawing to explore interior states, like Guston or Klee. Artists are always referencing each other, always building on what came before. It's a big, ongoing conversation! Each artwork is a new offering in that exchange. In a simple drawing, there are endless layers of meaning.