Jakob worstelend met de engel 1869 - 1925

Editor: Here we have Antoon Derkinderen's drawing, "Jakob worstelend met de engel", created sometime between 1869 and 1925, using pencil on paper. It’s a quick sketch, capturing the tension of the biblical struggle. What do you see in this piece, focusing on its artistic form? Curator: Observe the economy of line, how Derkinderen uses minimal strokes to define form and suggest movement. The composition, while seemingly spontaneous, is carefully arranged to convey the physical and perhaps spiritual struggle. Consider the angel's wings – see how they frame the combatants, adding to the drama. The contrasting densities of line work are very informative; notice how it is denser in the bodies that wrestle to signify mass. Editor: It is compelling. The looser rendering of the other figure leads me to wonder, does this indicate that they are ghosts, spectres, or the imaginings of the main figures? Curator: A crucial question! We must attend to what is visible in the drawing. Consider what it means for something to be spectral. Here it might just as well mean that that figures are far in the distance or that it is drawn using far less pencil and therefore less defined. In this formal approach, it’s productive to analyze how the structural components affect one another and, in this case, how the comparative qualities impact each figure's presence in the overall work. Editor: That’s a really helpful perspective, to bracket those interpretative assumptions and instead engage with the formal qualities as evidence of the artistic process. Thanks! Curator: You're welcome! A formalist approach provides invaluable tools to analyze artwork on the merits of its visual features.