Schetsen van figuren 1876 - 1951

Here we see a sketch in black chalk by Theo Nieuwenhuis. Look at that beautiful paper, and the confident strokes which bring these figures to life. You can almost see the artist in action, quickly capturing these characters as they appeared before him, or perhaps from his imagination. I wonder what Nieuwenhuis was thinking as he worked. Was he interested in the movement of the figures, or the quality of the light on the page? There’s a vulnerability in these marks—the smudge on the paper near the centre suggests that the artist’s thinking occurred in the act of sketching. The composition has a wonderfully spontaneous feel—a bit awkward, slightly unresolved, but somehow perfect. This sketch is a small part of a much larger conversation among artists across time. Nieuwenhuis, like many others, explored the human form through drawing, each adding something new to our understanding of what it means to be human.