Kop van een vrouw met kapje 1878 - 1938

Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst made this drawing of a woman’s head, ‘Kop van een vrouw met kapje,’ with careful, controlled marks. It's not about wild gestures, but about the slow, deliberate buildup of tone and detail. Look at how the shadow is created on the woman's face, built from tiny little flecks and dots. The linear quality creates definition, but also makes the image feel incomplete or ‘in progress’. It invites us to consider the drawing as a collection of decisions and revisions. See how the lines of the shawl sort of peter out? They’re not quite ‘resolved’ into a finished form, and this, to me, makes the piece even more interesting! Holst reminds me a little of Paula Modersohn-Becker, another artist who captured the quiet intensity of everyday life. Both artists suggest that art is not about perfection, but about process and the ongoing conversation between the artist and their subject.