Deel van een bouwtekening 1904 - 1944

Bob Hanf made this "Deel van een bouwtekening" architectural drawing with pencil, pen and watercolour. It's all about lines, right? A composition of horizontal and vertical lines, and a muted colour palette that focuses your attention on the relationships between the shapes. The colour is lightly applied, almost like a suggestion, rather than a full commitment, and it gives the drawing a sense of depth and volume. The way the lines are drawn, precise yet slightly wavering, makes me think about the human hand and the translation of a mental image into something tangible. Look closely at how he depicts the joints and connections, it is amazing. He is not just showing us how things fit together, but also hinting at the stresses and strains, the forces at play. I'm reminded of the work of Agnes Martin, who, similarly, used simple lines and grids to create a sense of calm and order. But where Martin's work is abstract, Hanf's drawing is rooted in the physical world, in the practicalities of building and construction. Like all good art, this piece speaks to the beauty of ambiguity.