Liggende schapen c. 1884 - 1887

Editor: Here we have "Liggende schapen" – that's "Reclining Sheep" – a pencil drawing from around 1884-1887 by Willem Witsen, found in the Rijksmuseum. It looks like a page torn right out of a sketchbook! There’s a ghostly quality to the drawing; very faint lines capturing the form of the sheep. It's incomplete, right? Like a thought captured quickly. What stands out to you? Curator: You're right, there's a delicious intimacy about it, isn't there? The very definition of 'fleeting impression'. Look at how the sheep seems almost to dissolve into the page, as if its very essence is one with the paper. Witsen wasn’t necessarily aiming for photorealism. More a feeling, a mood...perhaps even a memory? Does it remind you of any other quick sketches you've seen? Degas’ dancers, perhaps? Editor: I see what you mean, with Degas's sketches, definitely capturing movement in the moment. With Witsen's piece though, it is more like a quiet stillness that speaks to me. I find myself wondering what Witsen was thinking when he made this. Curator: Perhaps he was drawn to the pastoral calm, a respite from city life? Or maybe it's simply the beautiful light, so typical of the Dutch landscape, reflecting off their wool. This sketch feels like a visual poem, capturing a transient moment in the life of these gentle creatures. I wonder what we are *not* seeing here... What does the landscape *feel* like? What are we imagining outside of these suggestive pencil lines? Editor: So it's less about *what* is drawn and more about the emotions the piece conjures up... interesting! I’ll look at sketches with a new appreciation from now on. Curator: Exactly. It reminds us that sometimes, the most powerful art lies not in meticulous detail, but in the evocative power of suggestion.