Zonder titel Schets vignet voor biografie van Gestel door Van der Pluym, gezicht op Woerden met daarboven een hand die reikt naar een gevleugeld palet 1935 - 1936

Leo Gestel made this sketch in pen on paper, for a biography about him by Van der Pluym. The image is all about the gesture, a hand reaching upwards, striving for something. The marks are restless and searching, with the hand almost lost in a flurry of cloud-like lines. The artist is working things out, playing with ideas, not trying to be too precise. And then above the hand we see a winged palette. The winged palette is a symbol for painting! It's like the artist is trying to grab hold of their practice. Woerden is sketched at the bottom, a real, solid place compared with all that ethereal stuff. Gestel is a great artist, but he's kind of underrated. This sketch makes me think of the drawings of Philip Guston, where all the forms seem to emerge from a similar kind of searching, scribbly energy. Art's about always looking, reaching, grabbing for something, right?