Vijf vrouwenhoofden 1891 - 1941

Leo Gestel made this drawing, ‘Vijf vrouwenhoofden,’ or ‘Five Women's Heads,’ with graphite on paper, and I can just imagine him, pencil in hand, chasing the presence of these women. The quick, simple lines suggest a search for a form that's just beyond reach. I feel like he's thinking about Cezanne, and the way he builds up a face from simple geometric forms. But where Cezanne is so solid, these faces are fleeting, like ghosts or echoes. Are they emerging or disappearing? It makes me wonder what Gestel was thinking about, what he was trying to capture. Was it the individual features, or something more – the essence of a woman's face? It’s like he’s trying to work out the puzzle of how we see, and how we remember. Gestel reminds us that painting isn't just about what we see, but how we see.