Twee arbeiders bij het maken van beeldjes 1881 - 1948

Herman Heijenbrock made this drawing of two workers making figurines, but when, and with what media, exactly, remains a mystery. The image has a tonal range that is mostly grayscale, but with hints of colour, like a memory. I love the fact that it’s hard to know what this drawing is *made* of – is it chalk, charcoal, or paint? You can see the tool being dragged and layered to build up the figures. The workers are covered in a cloudy dust, maybe from the clay itself, giving the piece a hazy, dreamlike quality. The surface has a subtle build-up of material, so the drawing almost feels like a painting. Look at the way the legs of the stool, in the lower right corner, disappear into the floor, grounding the image in this material reality. It reminds me a little bit of Degas, who combined drawing and painting to capture a similar mood. It’s like a foggy window into another time.