Abklatsch van de krijttekening op pagina 54 Possibly 1906 - 1909

This transfer of a chalk drawing was made by Willem Witsen, sometime between 1880 and 1923. It's a delicate ghost of an image, a whisper of an idea barely caught on the page. The surface has a soft, almost velvety texture, like a memory fading at the edges. It reminds me of those moments in the studio when you're not quite sure what you're after, but you keep pushing, erasing, layering, hoping something will emerge. See that faint, horizontal smudge near the top? It’s like a horizon line, or maybe just a nervous tic of the hand. Witsen, like Whistler, was interested in capturing fleeting atmospheric conditions, and this is a great example of how a minimalist approach can be so suggestive. It's not about the thing itself, but the feeling of the thing. And maybe that's what art is, in the end - a way of making feelings visible. Like a conversation between artists, from one era to the next. A question, rather than an answer.