Hand met gespreide vingers 1874 - 1923

Editor: So, this is "Hand met gespreide vingers" - or "Hand with splayed fingers" - by Willem Witsen. It's a pencil drawing on paper, done sometime between 1874 and 1923. There’s something really immediate about it, almost like we're looking at a page ripped right out of his sketchbook. What strikes you about it? Curator: Oh, this little glimpse into Witsen's process… it feels so intimate, doesn't it? Hands, in art, can be tricky devils - they tell stories, reveal character, but they're so easy to botch! He's captured something really vital here, a kind of restless energy, wouldn't you say? The hand seems almost to be reaching, or perhaps offering. Editor: Reaching, yes, or maybe even... interrogating? It's so simple, just a few lines, but I keep wondering, what's it reaching *for*? Curator: Precisely! Or what is it asking? The lack of detail, the sketchy nature… it encourages our imaginations to fill in the gaps. For me, it’s less about *what* it’s reaching for, and more about the *act* of reaching itself. The striving, the yearning. Think about the period he was working in... a time of enormous social and artistic change. Do you see any of that reflected here? Editor: Hmm, that's interesting! I hadn't thought of it like that. Now, I see it in the… tentative lines? Almost as if he is uncertain, exploring possibilities. Curator: Absolutely. And it makes you think, doesn’t it? How often do we capture the essence of something in its simplest form, before we overwork it, before we lose the initial spark? Editor: It really does! I came in thinking this was just a simple sketch, but now I'm seeing so much more—the artist's searching mind, the cultural context... even the sheer effort of trying to depict a hand. Curator: And isn’t that the joy of art? To keep seeing, keep questioning, keep reaching... just like Witsen's hand.