Bloemen en golven 1939 - 1941

Leo Gestel made this drawing, Bloemen en golven, with a pencil on paper. The marks are incredibly fluid, capturing the essence of flowers and waves. I imagine Gestel working swiftly, letting the pencil dance across the page. He’s not just depicting flowers and waves, he’s trying to capture their energy. The flowers are like little fists, coiled tight, while the waves ripple along the bottom, suggesting movement and rhythm. It reminds me of those old master sketches, where the artist is thinking through form and composition. There's a conversation happening here between the hand, the eye, and the subject. Gestel is in dialogue with the natural world but also with the history of art. Artists are always riffing off each other, and this drawing feels like a quiet but powerful statement in that ongoing exchange.