Aangemeerd zeilschip aan een kade 1900 - 1931

Willem Bastiaan Tholen captured this docked sailing ship with graphite on paper. Imagine him there, sketchbook in hand, charcoal stick moving swiftly, trying to capture the essence of this vessel at rest. I'm drawn to the horizontal lines in the sail, their rhythmic pattern almost hypnotic. You can sense the artist's hand moving back and forth, back and forth, filling in the space, block by block, while other details are only loosely sketched. It's not about perfection, but more about the act of seeing, of translating the world onto the page, like a dance between eye, hand, and the subject before him. The way he simplifies form, focusing on the most important lines and shapes, makes me think of other artists like Edward Hopper, or Giorgio Morandi. We're all in conversation, aren’t we? Trying to make sense of what we see, and how we feel.