Dak met dakpannen 1876 - 1924

Curator: Here at the Rijksmuseum, we have a captivating work by Gerrit Willem Dijsselhof. It's called "Dak met dakpannen," or "Roof with Roof Tiles," and it's thought to have been created sometime between 1876 and 1924. The artwork primarily uses ink and pencil on paper. Editor: You know, at first glance, it feels so fleeting. Like a half-remembered dream of a European town, captured in a whirlwind of scribbled lines. The geometry is there, sure, but it's battling against this sense of transience. Does that make sense? Curator: It does, actually. If we consider the interplay between the rigid lines defining the architectural elements and the looser, more fluid strokes that suggest the surrounding environment, there's an interesting tension. Note how the tiles, depicted with almost mathematical precision, contrast sharply with the airy, almost ethereal lines suggesting the eaves and the supports. Editor: Yes! The roof tiles are trying so hard to be orderly, but the rest of it…it’s like the wind is already dismantling the structure. There’s a lonely quality about it. I keep thinking about the person who lived under that roof, peering out at the world. It's an intimate little glimpse. Curator: I agree; it's precisely this intimate quality that makes it so compelling. Dijsselhof masterfully employs line to evoke a sense of depth and perspective despite the drawing's limited tonal range. And by carefully studying the artist's lines, one might ask themselves, “Does he offer here only the representation of the form itself or is he telling the tale of it, the ‘why’ in being and portraying itself to us as an expression?'' Editor: It’s a very elemental sort of composition too—earth, shelter, sky implied. A whole world distilled into a few lines. Like the beginning of a story. I love that in art…the feeling that something bigger is being hinted at. Curator: Absolutely. And how Dijsselhof was able to conjure so much feeling and thought out of such rudimentary medium usage only solidifies the concept behind his practice. Editor: Indeed. What starts as a simple roof sketch becomes a meditation on shelter, memory, and the fleeting nature of existence. Quite lovely.