Grote liggende vrouw op een bed waar naast en op haar vijf kleine figuren staan c. 1936 - 1940

Henk Henriët made this drawing of a large reclining woman surrounded by small figures with graphite on paper. It looks like a dream, doesn’t it? The process here is all about the line, a wandering, searching mark that defines the space and figures within it. The graphite gives it a provisional, ethereal quality. Look at how the woman’s body is rendered; soft and voluminous, her form defined by these delicate, almost hesitant lines. It's as if Henriët is feeling his way around her contours, and the small figures, like the one perched atop the woman, feel whimsical. There's something about the contrast in scale that's so striking, and a little surreal. Henriët’s contemporary, Charley Toorop, also played with scale and the human form, but with a very different approach, using stark lines to create bold portraits. But here, it’s the uncertainty, the lightness of touch that gives this piece its distinctive character. It embraces ambiguity, inviting our own interpretations of this strange and wonderful scene.