Annotaties c. 1915 - 1921

Willem Witsen made this page of annotations with graphite on paper. It's not a formal work, more like thinking out loud, a process revealed. The graphite marks are all over the place, some dense and scribbled, some light and flowing. Check out that set of diagonal lines slashing across the page. They’re so physical, like a burst of energy cutting through the text. You can almost feel the pressure of his hand, the speed of the gesture. And the writing itself, it’s not about neatness or legibility, it's about capturing a thought before it disappears. It reminds me of Cy Twombly's scrawls, but with a quieter, more intimate feel. Both Witsen and Twombly remind us that art doesn't always have to be polished and resolved. Sometimes, the most interesting things happen in the messy, unresolved moments of creation.