Liggende naakte vrouw c. 1916

Reijer Stolk made this drawing of a reclining nude, using pencil and crayon. It’s so sparse, barely there; a ghost of a figure. Yet, in its incompleteness, it’s strangely complete. The lines are tentative, searching, as if Stolk is feeling his way around the form. Look at how the red crayon makes marks on the right – not quite shading, not quite defining the space, but activating the surface. It is like the drawing is always in process. I find it interesting how the body is deconstructed into these fragile marks. It reminds me of the work of Egon Schiele, the way he used line to capture a raw, almost vulnerable sense of the human form, and how drawings like this, even when unfinished, offer a glimpse into the messy, beautiful act of creation. It shows how art can be a space of openness, ambiguity, and ongoing experimentation.