Annotaties 1878

Curator: Annotaties, created around 1878 by Willem Witsen. The Rijksmuseum holds this mixed-media work of drawing in its collection. Editor: The paper is fragile and stained, the text faint but there’s still a lingering trace of labor in these annotations that pulls me in. I can sense something methodical about it. Curator: Yes, Witsen was known for his printmaking, and his process was deeply embedded in a detailed examination of material, tools, and labor, this reminds me of his approach to the final proof stage of creating an etching. It makes me wonder, how does this all come together and relate to artmaking overall? Editor: Looking at the paper, I notice a kind of numerical sequencing… almost like the artist was building up some mental process. This, to me, hints at symbolic progression, maybe even towards a specific artistic outcome he imagined. Could it perhaps be some system, a coded mapping? I see more than just scribbles here. Curator: Maybe that’s an optimistic reading! Given the nature of mixed-media on paper, and that it uses both ink and graphite pencil, one possible conclusion is that Annotaties served the function of scrap paper used to plan an artistic activity. How much material was needed? What kind? The nature of modernism at that point had broken down a lot of strict barriers. Editor: I understand how process takes precedent with your perspective; still, the human element is striking. There’s something very intimate and revealing, like seeing inside the artist’s mind as he prepared. Doesn't that emotional resonance transcend simple accounting or prep work? Curator: The emotional connection might well be from the act of writing itself. In the act of handwriting is also where the making takes form, I can admit. These methods, I would add, reflect how the artist negotiates and manages his studio and craft in real time and in connection with what is coming. Editor: Well, I’ll leave here with my intuition stimulated! Thanks to Witsen, we both seem to understand a different kind of symbol: that of working towards a complete vision. Curator: A symbol and the result of material working as one. Well said.