Notitie over Mars 1900 - 1903

Antoon Derkinderen made this sketch titled "Notitie over Mars" with what looks like pencil and ink. It's a study, an open process laid bare. The light touch and delicate hatching suggest the artist's mind at work, not trying to represent a finished form, but thinking through the possibilities of form. Look at the way the lines are layered, creating subtle shifts in value and texture. They give the piece a real sense of depth. This piece reminds me a little of Guston’s late drawings, not in style, but in the way they embrace the raw and tentative nature of the artmaking process. It emphasizes that art is a conversation, an exchange of ideas across time. Like all good art, this piece reminds us that ambiguity and multiple interpretations are to be embraced.