Jonge vrouw met golvend haar voor een zee met schepen Possibly 1900 - 1918

Jan Toorop made this small pencil drawing, ‘Young Woman with Flowing Hair Before a Sea with Ships’, sometime in his career. The touch is light but sure, each line a little decision in a dance of shading. I’m struck by the texture he coaxes from the pencil, it's almost watery, reflecting the sea it depicts. Look at how the woman's hair flows, each strand a wave mirroring the ocean behind her. The boats in the background feel like thoughts in her head, or maybe the other way around, her hair like sails cutting through the water. There’s a real sense of atmosphere created by the simplest of means. It reminds me a little of Odilon Redon, that same dreamlike quality, but with a touch more groundedness. In the end, it’s a beautiful example of how a simple medium can create something that feels both immediate and timeless.