Kop van een man met een hoed 1906 - 1945

Reijer Stolk made this drawing of a man with a hat sometime before 1945, probably using pencil on paper. Look at those searching, tentative lines – see how they build up, layer upon layer, as if Stolk is trying to find the man hidden within the paper? You can almost feel the artist’s hand moving, making a mark, then another, always questioning, always seeking. The paper feels like a site of inquiry. I wonder what Stolk was thinking as he drew? Was he trying to capture the man's essence, his inner life? Or was he simply interested in the play of light and shadow on his face and hat? The beauty of drawing is that it embraces such ambiguity. It allows for multiple readings, different ways of seeing. It's like a conversation across time, a dialogue between artists. Stolk’s work reminds us that we are all connected. We all draw on the same wellspring of human experience. It’s a feeling. Like an ongoing exchange of ideas, inspiring each other’s creativity.