Getallenrijen c. 1887 - 1920

Willem Witsen made this work on paper with graphite; it’s called "Getallenrijen" which means "Number Rows." You know, the act of writing, figuring, drawing, doodling, it's all the same thing, a kind of intimate mark-making that gets really exciting! Look at how the pencil moves across the page. It's almost like handwriting, but it's numbers, calculations, squiggles and doodles. The artist has made tight rows of these notations, carefully laid out, with other numbers scattered and floating above. There’s a real contrast between the density of the writing and the blank parts of the page; it creates this push and pull that’s very appealing. It makes me think of Cy Twombly's chalkboard paintings, where he also explores the poetics of writing and erasure, but with a whole different feel. Both find ways of making meaning that is so much more than what’s actually represented, isn't it?