Zeil- en roeiboten op open water 1900 - 1931

Curator: Here we have Willem Bastiaan Tholen’s "Zeil- en roeiboten op open water," a pencil and pen drawing dating sometime between 1900 and 1931. It currently resides here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: Well, hello there, whisper of a drawing! It’s like catching a snippet of a thought. The whole scene feels very dreamlike and hushed, like a memory floating to the surface. Curator: Indeed. The impressionistic style is quite evident. Note the layering of strokes, the strategic use of negative space to create volume and light. The materiality of the work highlights the texture and quality of the paper. We can appreciate how Tholen captures a tranquil marine scene in a brief impression. Editor: Exactly! There's a quiet rebellion against perfection that speaks volumes. I adore how the sky melts into the water and how the masts look like some sort of mysterious written code. You get this profound sense that Tholen was there, feeling the damp breeze and bottling that feeling in a drawing. Curator: I agree with you regarding the atmospheric rendering of water. The light is carefully modulated using hatching, stippling, and cross-hatching techniques to capture the way that surfaces react to light. Observe too how line width varies, enhancing definition where required. Editor: You make me consider something that has been tickling my mind, it feels like he's reminding us that life itself is just a sketch and this fills me with melancholy and freedom in equal doses. It's strangely powerful for something so understated. Curator: Perhaps this intimate glimpse into the artist’s creative process allows viewers to connect with art on a more human scale, even appreciate how careful the arrangement on the sketch is in relation to the bounding of the paper itself. Editor: Well, it certainly has allowed me to embrace the ephemeral, the beauty of a half-formed thought! So many people are chasing polished masterpieces when here sits an incredible, simple work that gets right under your skin. Curator: An interesting perspective. It has certainly opened new avenues for future discussion regarding the dialectic between freedom and structure within minimalist drawing traditions.