Koeien 1891 - 1941

Leo Gestel made this drawing of cows with what looks like charcoal on paper. There's this interesting contrast between the cows outlined with confident, swift marks, and the one in front that's been softly smudged into being. It’s like Gestel is playing with how much information he needs to give us. That blurred cow is all about the surface, the texture of the charcoal almost standing in for the cow itself. Check out the legs of the cow at the back. Those confident lines, placed so economically, they remind me of Matisse. Like Matisse, Gestel can capture so much of the essence of a thing with just a few strokes. Thinking about art as a conversation, maybe Gestel was talking to Matisse when he made this. Both show how drawing is as much about feeling as it is about seeing.