Vredesduif 1934 - 1936

Curator: This pen and ink drawing, "Vredesduif," or "Peace Dove," was created by Leo Gestel sometime between 1934 and 1936, and currently resides here at the Rijksmuseum. It's a relatively simple piece; what do you make of it? Editor: There’s something incredibly poignant about its simplicity, isn’t there? That bold outline against the stark paper… It almost feels like a child’s drawing, full of hope but edged with something deeper. The dove itself is soaring but slightly burdened by its message, maybe? Curator: Interesting observation about burden. I'm particularly drawn to how the materiality and means of production are so exposed. It's just ink, paper, Gestel's hand, and perhaps mass reproduction after the fact. But look closer; note how that starkness amplifies its anti-war sentiment, produced as Europe moved closer to the Second World War. It isn't hidden under layers of oil or complex sculptural form. It makes the peace message plain. Editor: Exactly! Like a whisper turning into a shout! The pen and ink allow that simplicity to highlight the symbolism. A laurel wreath. A rising sun—or perhaps a setting one given the darkening times. And of course, the inscription, if my eyes don't deceive me… "11 Nov 1918?" Isn't that Armistice Day, marking the end of World War One? Curator: Precisely. In considering the drawing's creation almost two decades later, we’re compelled to interpret it as not only a universal plea, but also a deliberate comment about specific historical circumstances. Notice the drawing has technical notations below the main motif. Almost like instructions or a layout, suggesting preparation for larger-scale distribution. Gestel sought for his symbol to become more broadly circulated for consumption and thought. Editor: So it's almost mass produced anxiety, given its historical positioning... Haunting. To think of peace as something manufactured... something consciously built, a labor to produce in those volatile years. Curator: Indeed. Gestel highlights the labour required in peace keeping by highlighting his own labor. What remains with you, then, now you've lingered a while? Editor: Its hopeful resignation, that’s it. So stripped down, just an idea of peace rendered in the humblest, yet starkest of materials. How easily a promise, made bold, might break down to just paper and ink. Curator: And for me, how readily we reproduce and consume these symbols, but may, just may, through encountering Gestel’s work again, actively invest in them, too.