Portret van Bouke Ylstra before 1978

This is Rein Dool’s portrait of Bouke Ylstra, drawn with pen on paper. It’s pretty minimal, all sparse, wiry lines, and the artist really gets a likeness down with so little. I can imagine Dool in front of his subject, quickly trying to capture something essential. Maybe he started with the eyes and then the mustache. The man's gaze feels so direct, almost confrontational. And the little scribbles that describe the shirt, I can just see the artist moving the pen across the surface so quickly. It reminds me of other drawings by artists like Guston, so economical with line. Artists are always in conversation with each other, whether they know it or not, each adding their own voice. And in the end, what we get are these beautiful, imperfect records of seeing and feeling. It's like they’re all working it out together.