Studieblad met diverse figuurstudies en vissersboten 1870 - 1931

Curator: What a playful piece this is! Here we have Willem Bastiaan Tholen’s “Studieblad met diverse figuurstudies en vissersboten”—that’s Study Sheet with Various Figure Studies and Fishing Boats, from the period 1870 to 1931. Editor: My first impression is one of fleeting observation. The pencil sketches, like snippets of captured moments, feel very intimate—the kind of thing you'd do while soaking up the sun on the beach. What’s fascinating is the raw quality of the pencil on paper. It reminds me of the manual labor that grounds impressionistic paintings, a kind of pre-industrial capture of seaside leisure. Curator: Exactly! It's like he's distilling the essence of a seaside scene. The repetition of the boats—look how they gently shift, morphing across the page. Each one feels slightly different, a fleeting impression rendered in pencil. And those figures! Such simple lines evoke whole characters and narratives. You can almost hear the chatter and feel the salty breeze. It's the everyday elevated to something quite special, wouldn't you say? Editor: I am especially drawn to the labor involved: consider the manufacturing and transport of paper, the production and marketing of pencils, not to mention the construction and labor of those very boats sketched. There is a world of working lives hinted in what appears at first to be innocent observation, or spontaneous impression. Tholen offers not merely a scene but a process of how it is being observed, filtered through pencil and paper. Curator: The material—paper and pencil—gives it a lovely accessible feel. It invites you in, almost as if you could pick up your own pencil and add to the scene. Did Tholen use readily available materials in his drawings in comparison to his oil painting productions? Editor: It feels so much more approachable because it reflects our own abilities, that is to pick up these very tools. The drawing medium makes accessible not just the subject but Tholen's art. As for availability, there’s definitely a question about class. The labor and materials that afford us leisurely observation can, like the sea itself, reflect social strata and means of access. Curator: That's a beautiful observation! Considering the details now, I also notice some boats grounded—waiting to sail again—perhaps suggesting a world in quiet anticipation? Editor: The unfinished sketch quality invites us to reflect not just on observation but production itself, while allowing for interpretations to continue with a sea of change! Curator: This work leaves me feeling grounded yet inspired. It’s a wonderful reminder that the most extraordinary art can often be found in the simplest of moments. Editor: For me it sparks awareness that everyday observations—leisure and labor—can become something to celebrate, and, to dissect materially in our lives.