Studie 1905

Willem Cornelis Rip made this small study, probably in graphite, on paper. It’s mostly empty. The paper is off-white. A few tiny dots and smudges are scattered across the surface. In the lower right, there is a faint suggestion of a line. It looks like a start, not a finish. I can imagine Rip with the paper in his lap, outside maybe, or in a room filled with other things. He tests the graphite, presses down, but lightly. Then stops. Maybe he thought, "Not this, not now." Or maybe he got called away. I think a lot about all the paintings that never get made, or the ones that get destroyed. The starts and stops, the changes of heart. It's all part of the conversation. We look at paintings, but paintings are also looking back, and talking to each other, across time.