Reiger met zijn kop naar achter gedraaid 1891 - 1941

Leo Gestel made this drawing of a heron with its head turned backwards, with pen in gray ink, on paper. The gray ink is applied in confident strokes, defining the bird’s elegant form with an economy of means. Look at the way the lines thicken and thin, creating a sense of depth and shadow. Gestel’s process feels intuitive, almost like he's feeling his way around the subject. I’m particularly drawn to the head and neck, see how the curves suggest both strength and vulnerability? There's a kind of fluidity in the way he builds up the image. The whole piece reminds me a bit of Franz Marc, who was exploring similar themes of nature and spirituality around the same time. Ultimately, Gestel invites us to contemplate the beauty and strangeness of the natural world, to see it not as something fixed and knowable, but as a dynamic and ever-changing process.