Gebouw met een toren aan een waterkant Possibly 1914 - 1919

Editor: Here we have Willem Cornelis Rip's "Building with a Tower on a Waterfront", likely from 1914 to 1919. It's an ink drawing on paper, seemingly from a sketchbook. There's something wistful and almost unfinished about the sketch. It makes me wonder what caught Rip's eye. What strikes you most when you look at it? Curator: Well, the immediacy, for one. It feels so raw, like a fleeting thought captured in ink. The artist’s hand is so visible – the quick strokes, the light touch… It speaks of a certain urgency, wouldn’t you say? And look at the placement of the tower. It's not dominating the composition; it's nestled amongst the landscape. It begs the question: What was the artist trying to communicate by deemphasizing it, by making it seem almost secretive or dreamlike? Editor: I see what you mean! It's like a memory rather than a strict depiction. I'm intrigued by the empty left page, and I wonder why he didn't sketch on both pages. Is that a way for the artist to guide our eyes? Curator: Absolutely. Leaving one side blank gives the sketched side even more weight, and also reminds me of those wonderful travel journals with pressed flowers and clipped photos. We want to touch and smell it. I imagine the artist pausing to capture the essence of a place, maybe feeling the cool breeze off the water, and deciding one image was all it took to keep the memory alive. Editor: That’s beautiful. It makes me think about how we collect moments and memories, whether through art or photographs. And it shows how much can be expressed through what’s left unsaid or undone, or in the blank spaces we leave. Curator: Exactly! It's a reminder that sometimes, the most powerful statements are whispered, not shouted, eh? It also reminds me that perhaps every space left unfinished holds even more potential than what is done.