Achterzijde van een staande naakte vrouw 1906 - 1945

This sketch of a standing nude was made by Reijer Stolk, likely in the early 20th century. It’s all gentle washes of grayish-brown ink on paper. I love the ghostliness of it. He’s laid down this grid, and within it, the figure emerges, but softly, like it could disappear at any moment. I wonder if Stolk was trying to capture not just the figure, but its movement, its ephemerality? That initial stroke down the back, pooling at the heel – it feels so confident, so sure. And then everything else seems to flow from that, a conversation between the artist and the form as it reveals itself. It reminds me of Twombly, in a way—the way he used line to suggest form, rather than define it. All these artists, they’re talking to each other, across time, across mediums, trying to figure out how to make sense of the world, one gesture at a time. And that’s what keeps painting alive, that ongoing conversation, that willingness to embrace the unknown.