Portret van generaal Joseph Jacques Césaire Joffre 1934 - 1936

This is Leo Gestel's portrait of General Joseph Jacques Césaire Joffre, at the Rijksmuseum, made with ink on paper. Look at how Gestel renders the General's face with these tight, almost frenetic lines, especially around the eyes and mouth. It's like he's trying to capture not just a likeness, but the very essence of the man through this intense, repetitive mark-making. The texture created by the ink is key. Some areas are dense and dark, built up with layers, while others are sparse, letting the paper breathe. Notice the way the lines follow the contours of the face, creating a sense of volume and depth, but also a kind of nervous energy. It's as if Gestel is wrestling with the image, trying to pin it down, but also allowing it to remain elusive and unstable. That moustache looks very considered, but it feels as though another might grow right out of the paper. Gestel's process reminds me a little of someone like Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, a contemporary who was similarly grappling with the anxieties of the modern age. Both artists used expressive mark-making to convey a sense of unease and alienation. But in the end, it's all just ink and paper, transformed into something powerful and evocative through the artist's touch.