Naakte man, knielend op één knie 1906 - 1945

This is a drawing, a study, of a kneeling nude man made by Reijer Stolk sometime between 1910 and 1945. Look at how the artist found the form of the man with just a few lines. He’s captured a sense of weight and tension. What was he thinking when he made it? How many times did he redraw each line? Was he trying to capture the perfect pose? Was he trying to discover something about the body? I love the way the hand and foot are just sort of suggested, unfinished. It's like he's still figuring things out as he goes. For me, drawing is such an intimate and personal way of making art. You can feel the artist's presence in every mark, every decision. You can feel the artist in conversation with the subject, circling around it, trying to understand it. It’s this that connects Stolk to a long lineage of artists who have looked to the body for inspiration.