Typen uit Woerden

Leo Gestel made this drawing, "Types of Woerden," on paper with graphite. What you see here are not highly finished portraits, but quick studies of the residents of Woerden, a town in the Netherlands. Look closely at the material, graphite, in relation to the image it creates. Graphite, also known as plumbago or black lead, is relatively soft and leaves a dark grey trace when it is dragged across a surface such as paper. The artist has taken full advantage of these qualities to create the image of the local people with firm and definite strokes. It is likely that Gestel made these studies outside in a sketchbook, perhaps on the market square, as indicated in the lower right corner of the drawing. With a cheap and easily available material like graphite, he captured a moment in time, and the people who lived and worked in Woerden. In doing so, Gestel elevates the everyday, challenging the traditional hierarchy between 'high' art and the lives of ordinary people.