Gezicht op Positano 1924

Curator: Here we have Leo Gestel’s 1924 drawing, "Gezicht op Positano," or "View of Positano." Gestel rendered this cityscape in graphite on paper. Editor: It strikes me as a somber yet sturdy vision. The architectural forms, though softened by the medium, possess a palpable sense of permanence. Curator: That somber tone is interesting given when this was created, at the beginning of his more abstract work following a dark period when Gestel was impacted by the death of his wife, and when his works weren't exhibited. This image reflects a broader early 20th-century grappling with societal change through artistic expression. Editor: I see the cultural connection there. The repeated rectangular forms hint at solidity. Windows and doors stand out. It's a town perched impossibly on the mountainside, an arrangement of human intervention against a vast landscape. I sense a yearning for community represented here. Curator: Indeed. Note Gestel’s subtle manipulation of perspective. He's using a flattened picture plane typical of modernism, in an attempt to create visual rhythm and symbolic impact, rather than perfect realism. That relates to interwar longing. The Great War had leveled Europe's established cultural landscape and society as people knew it. It makes sense the architecture reflects the idea of recovery from ruins. Editor: Right, and that reconstruction would've relied on strong symbolism. Each archway, each repeating shape of a home stacked up the hill, can be viewed as a symbolic suggestion of the interconnected fates of a people as they try to come together after disaster. Curator: An interesting idea. In many ways, what we see in Gestel's depiction of Positano are not simply buildings, but the bones of something being built again. Editor: So it goes back to what I was initially alluding to - a stoic but sturdy vision that hints at how people connect and overcome. Gestel invites us to see through the individual stones and roofs to appreciate the whole. Curator: It's interesting to consider it in those terms. It shows how a pencil drawing of a city view also mirrors back ideas around resilience and connection.