Composition (The Cow) 1917

Theo van Doesburg made this drawing, titled Composition (The Cow), out of graphite on paper. I love drawings like this because they show artmaking as a process. The tentative nature of the marks, so light and searching, makes me feel like I’m looking at a sketch in the artist’s notebook. Look at the lower part of the animal: you can see the ghost of an earlier, abandoned outline. I love how the artist leaves those marks in; it suggests that art is as much about the attempt as it is about the finished product. The lack of detail also invites us to fill in the gaps ourselves. Our minds work to make sense of the lines, turning them into a recognizable form. Doesburg’s exploration of abstraction reminds me of other artists, like Mondrian, who embrace the idea that a painting can be a space for open-ended exploration and personal interpretation.