Zich vooroverbuigende vrouw 1903

Leo Gestel made this drawing of a woman bending over, with ink on paper. Look at how the ink is laid down – not fussy or overly detailed but full of conviction, a pure, confident line. You can almost feel the movement, the gesture, as Gestel’s hand moved across the page. There's an immediacy to the way he uses the ink, like he's trying to capture not just what he sees, but the feeling of the moment. The texture is almost secondary here, it's more about capturing the essence of a figure through the flow and weight of the line. The back of the dress, for example, is rendered with a few strokes, but it describes the form perfectly. Gestel reminds me of Paula Modersohn-Becker, who also had this knack for distilling form to its most essential elements, capturing life with a kind of raw honesty. And that, I think, is where the real beauty lies – in the artist’s hand, making something out of nothing, and inviting us to see the world in a new way.