Studieblad, onder andere met een ornamentele lijst c. 1901

This study sheet with an ornamental frame was made by Gerrit Willem Dijsselhof. You can almost feel the graphite dust coming off the page. Dijsselhof is feeling his way through forms and shapes, and it looks like he is trying to combine architectural elements with some organic ones. He layers images one on top of another. The effect for the viewer is quite puzzling. I wonder, was he working out different ideas on one page, or did he simply not want to waste the paper? I really dig the mix of hard edges and soft forms. I particularly like that the page is lined, as if the artist is working out mathematical equations. Yet, he is playing with ideas that are deeply irrational. The best art is like that, right? And, you know, all artists riff on each other through time.