Prentbriefkaart aan Willem Bogtman Possibly 1934 - 1939

This postcard to Willem Bogtman by Richard Nicolaüs Roland Holst reproduces a drawing with what looks like graphite. I love the gradations of tone, how the artist coaxes so much form out of what is essentially just one colour. It's interesting to think about the physicality of the medium here, the softness of the graphite stick, or maybe even a pencil, dragged across the page. The marks are pretty dense, packed close together. Look around the nose, and under the chin; there's a real intensity there, but then it's allowed to dissolve into hazy vagueness, like around the edges of the hair. It makes me think about how we construct images, bit by bit, out of marks on a surface. This head reminds me of some of the Pre-Raphaelite artists, like Burne-Jones, or even Whistler, with their interest in beauty and atmosphere. There's a similar kind of moodiness and quietness here. It suggests that art is always in conversation with what came before, an ongoing exploration of seeing and feeling.