Kompositieschetsen 1871 - 1906

Curator: This is "Kompositieschetsen," or Composition Sketches, by Pieter de Josselin de Jong. The work is comprised of pencil and ink on paper, dating between 1871 and 1906. Editor: Wow, they feel so immediate. It's like stumbling across the artist's private thoughts. There's a restlessness to it, an urgency to capture something fleeting. Curator: The composition certainly reveals a dynamic approach to figuration. Observe how each sketch explores different arrangements of figures within enclosed spaces. Note the consistent use of chairs. They provide a structural element to the composition, grounding the figures and defining their relationships to each other. Editor: I love the implied stories within these sketches. The grouping in the top panels feels like some tense negotiations, while the seated figure, with its gesturing hand, has an almost theatrical flair. There's such a contrast, a full range of emotionality despite their quickness. Curator: Precisely. And the sketch-like quality enhances this sense of immediacy, drawing our attention to the artist's process. It also plays with negative space. The blankness of the page isn't merely absence but acts as an active component, highlighting the gestural lines. Editor: You know, it almost feels like proto-storyboarding for film. A sequence of possibilities captured. These panels are almost film cells of human interaction; I would love to imagine this as the inception of a film. It seems modern somehow. Curator: I agree, the work has both historic and modern applications when viewed this way. Its value emerges in this nexus, from its materiality, structure, and temporal placement. I feel it gives one insight into the inner working of an artist as they developed scenes, maybe plays, or novels. Editor: Yes, something that starts small with sketches can blossom into something larger, it's lovely. I see possibility contained within this single page.