Studieblad met schapen te Exloo c. 1904 - 1912

Ferdinand Oldewelt made this sheet of studies of sheep, probably in situ, with graphite on paper. You can see the way he’s trying to figure out how these animals hold their weight, describing their wooly forms through an economy of marks. It’s a drawing about process, about searching, about figuring out how to see. I love the materiality of the graphite here; the way it smudges and reflects light. Look at the lower register of sheep, the animal closest to us has a strange, almost human form, but still retains the heaviness of a sheep. It’s like Oldewelt is feeling around in the dark, using mark-making to find the essence of the subject. This piece reminds me of some of the drawings of Van Gogh, in its honest appraisal of the everyday. Both artists transform the mundane into something profound through their attention to line, form, and the humble materials of art. It’s not about perfection, but about the beauty of the search, the journey of seeing.