Study sheet_ figures 

Editor: Here we have Johann Heinrich Hasselhorst's "Study sheet_ figures," a drawing on paper rendered in pencil, currently held at the Städel Museum. Its ethereal quality is interesting – what catches your eye about this work? Curator: Immediately, it’s the line quality that commands attention. Observe how Hasselhorst utilizes a delicate, almost hesitant touch. This creates a sense of volume despite the scantness of the drawn lines. Do you perceive how the figures emerge and recede within the pictorial space? Editor: Yes, there's a softness to the forms, almost like they are dissolving back into the paper. The lack of definitive outlines makes it feel incomplete. Curator: Incomplete perhaps, but not unresolved. Consider the semiotic possibilities within the seeming ambiguity. The unfinished nature of the lines does not detract, rather it directs one’s vision, encouraging the viewer's imagination to engage more intently in the pictorial experience. Does the positioning of the figures suggest any compositional relationships to you? Editor: Not immediately apparent relationships, I guess. They almost seem like separate studies, floating on the page, experimenting with representing the human form. Curator: Precisely. And observe how these spatial relationships might indicate something, or perhaps many things? We have multiple bodies, but there's no discernible setting. By stripping away context, the artist calls attention back to the structural elements. Hasselhorst pushes beyond mimesis, thus urging a formal interpretation. Editor: So by removing elements, the piece pushes viewers towards appreciating it from a technical angle. Interesting, I hadn't considered approaching it that way. Curator: Indeed. Attending to such inherent visuality enables a thorough and sustained act of looking. A good beginning.