Schetsboek met 51 bladen c. 1928 - 1930

This is Otto Verhagen’s sketchbook, bound in a light brown linen cover. The cover is almost completely devoid of marks except for a single faded blue roman numeral "IV." I find myself wondering about the artist's intentions for the work held within. Was it a repository for experimentation? Or perhaps a daily ritual? The way the linen is woven reminds me of a canvas waiting to receive paint, but here, it remains untouched, pregnant with possibility. I think of other sketchbooks I've seen, filled with frenetic energy and bursts of color. Each page becomes a conversation between the artist and themselves. I imagine Verhagen turning the pages of this book, perhaps searching for something, a way into a new idea. It reminds me that every artwork starts somewhere, often in the private space of the sketchbook, where the artist can be free to explore and make mistakes. It makes you think about all the sketchbooks in the world, all those private moments of creation linking artists together in a silent, ongoing exchange.