Medaillons in een rechthoek 1900 - 1903

This drawing of Medaillons in een rechthoek was made by Antoon Derkinderen. Looking at this piece, I imagine Derkinderen teasing out these very light marks from the paper with a pencil. The image is an exercise in geometry – the relationship between circle and rectangle. There's something about this that feels tender, tentative, a testing of ideas through very delicate means. I think of artists like Agnes Martin, who also used very subtle lines and forms. She was so rigorous about the way the line met the paper. These kinds of drawings are very intimate and contemplative. They remind me that drawing can be a very personal way of thinking through form, a method of trying to get the world to resolve itself in front of you. These drawings open up new ways of experiencing the world, inviting us to slow down, pay attention, and embrace the beauty of the understated.