Ontwerp voor een blik 1890 - 1946

This delicate study was made by Cornelis Vreedenburgh using pencil on paper. You can really sense the artist figuring things out in real time; sketching, rubbing out, and then sketching again. It's all about process! I love the way the artist teases out the lines of the design. See how the lines are not quite parallel and a little wobbly? This gives the drawing an energy and life that a more mechanical rendering would lack. There is a real intimacy in the way the artist has allowed us to see the first marks of the design. They are almost like palimpsests, each one layering over another. This piece reminds me of Cy Twombly's sketches. Both share a love of the imperfect line, the tentative gesture, and the art of ‘finding’ an image rather than simply ‘making’ it. Vreedenburgh's sketch isn’t about perfection. It’s about the beauty of the search.