Meetkundige grafiek c. 1916

Reijer Stolk made this geometrical drawing with pencil on paper at some point in his life. The quietness in the work speaks to the process of trying to fix an idea, the artist allowing themself to be led by the materials and the emergent image. It’s this conversation between the artist and the medium that makes the work so appealing, the push and pull of thought and form. Look at the lines, so tentative. You can almost see Stolk hovering over the page, adjusting, correcting, and feeling his way through the composition. The lines are faint in some places, bold in others, bearing witness to the artist’s touch, his thinking, as he navigates the space. It reminds me of Sol LeWitt’s wall drawings in a way, that embrace a certain looseness and imperfection. It’s a record of an action, a moment of exploration, rather than a slick finished product. Ultimately, art should be about the search, not the destination, right?