Bandontwerp voor: Paul Fierens, l'Art Hollandais contemporain 1933

Curator: This intriguing work before us, crafted by Leo Gestel in 1933, is a pencil drawing titled "Bandontwerp voor: Paul Fierens, l'Art Hollandais contemporain," housed here at the Rijksmuseum. The rather mundane title translates to: Cover design for: Paul Fierens, Contemporary Dutch Art. Editor: Immediately striking is the starkness of it. The figures feel caught in a loop, or maybe even trapped by the crudeness of their representation. What about the texture of the paper itself? It looks worn, used, and that appeals to me on some fundamental level. Curator: The materiality speaks volumes. Notice the hasty strokes of the pencil, the thin paper likely intended for a preliminary design. The marks denote a sense of urgency. This wasn’t intended to be seen as high art, but it reveals Gestel’s process and labour. This suggests an interesting context when considering his commercial dealings. Editor: Yet these aren't just any bodies. These nudes—specifically three women in various poses—feel connected to the age-old theme of the Three Graces or the Horae. There’s a rhythmic quality that reminds us of cyclical patterns of nature and time. The imagery harkens back to classical ideals, despite its rough appearance. Curator: Perhaps, but their anonymity resists easy categorization. They're clearly made of line, mass produced marks perhaps – cheap and infinitely reproducible. I want to suggest that there's a direct comparison between the image as artifact, as an idea, and the labour needed for its replication, and Gestel is asking questions of us. How does labour affect perception? Editor: That's an interesting perspective. For me, their ambiguity allows for diverse interpretations. We can discuss materials all we want, but the symbolism speaks powerfully here. They almost appear ghostly as if recalled from memory, each body offering different information—the curve of a hip, the angle of a shoulder. This lends the piece emotional complexity that extends beyond simple representation or material interrogation. Curator: It's true that it is difficult to look at them devoid of association or deeper symbolic resonance. Still, focusing solely on symbolism obscures the practical considerations. It forgets how this work came to be, its place as a proposed, but ultimately unused image for mass consumption and dissemination. Editor: That very tension, though—between the practical and the symbolic, the fleeting and the enduring—is precisely what makes the work so compelling. Curator: Indeed, this interplay really has made for a stimulating examination of this artwork's multiple layers of meaning.