Gevlekt paard 1891 - 1941

Leo Gestel made this drawing of a Spotted Horse, we don’t know exactly when or with what, but I’d guess it was charcoal or graphite on paper. The artist seems to be searching for the right lines to describe the essence of the horse, this isn’t about capturing likeness but more about the feeling of the animal. Look at the way the legs are described, just a few strokes, the bare minimum needed to give the impression of weight and form. And then there's the shading on the horse’s body – not blended, but made up of lots of little hatch marks. There’s a kind of raw immediacy, it's more like a note or a thought than a finished drawing. The lack of detail invites the viewer to complete the image in their own mind. It reminds me a little of some of Picasso’s ink drawings, particularly in its economy of line and the way it manages to suggest so much with so little. But where Picasso is all confidence and swagger, Gestel is more tentative, more vulnerable. A lovely little drawing.