Band met een plantmotief c. 1901

Gerrit Willem Dijsselhof made this sketch, Band met een plantmotief, with pencil on paper. You know, it’s funny, sometimes a sketch tells you more about an artist than a finished work, because you can see the process so clearly. Here, the plant design loops up and down. It’s drawn in these very simple, almost cartoonish shapes, but there’s a real confidence to the line. Look at the way the “eyes” in the flower are slightly off-center, giving it a touch of oddness. I love the way the pencil lines vary in pressure and thickness – like he’s really feeling his way through the form. It reminds me a bit of Hilma af Klint’s botanical studies, this mix of observation and something more mystical. Ultimately, it doesn’t really matter if it’s a flower or something else – it’s this quality of aliveness that shines through. It reminds you that art is really about seeing and feeling.