Hoofd van een lachende Afrikaan met hoofddeksel c. 1916 - 1945

Reijer Stolk made this pencil sketch, Hoofd van een lachende Afrikaan met hoofddeksel, in the early 20th century, and I’m struck by its simplicity. It’s like he’s feeling his way around the form, trying to capture a fleeting expression, you know? The wispy lines feel almost tentative, as if the artist is thinking out loud on the page. Look at the way the mouth is rendered, with those open lines suggesting a smile, or maybe even a laugh. There’s a real lightness of touch here. It's about an openness to the medium, with the translucency of the graphite allowing the paper to breathe. It gives the piece an unfinished feel. It puts me in mind of Matisse’s line drawings, where he could evoke so much with so little. I find something hopeful in it, this kind of art reminds me that art is about a process, a conversation, an ongoing exploration rather than a fixed statement.