{"id":1442,"date":"2025-06-21T14:44:44","date_gmt":"2025-06-21T14:44:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.florisjespers.com\/?page_id=1442"},"modified":"2025-06-28T22:03:26","modified_gmt":"2025-06-28T22:03:26","slug":"03-00-02-kindertekening","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.florisjespers.com\/en\/03-00-02-kindertekening\/","title":{"rendered":"03-00-02 Kindertekening"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Childhood Drawing<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:23px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"829\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.florisjespers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/jespers_237-1024x829.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-807 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.florisjespers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/jespers_237-1024x829.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.florisjespers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/jespers_237-300x243.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.florisjespers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/jespers_237-768x622.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.florisjespers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/jespers_237-1536x1243.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.florisjespers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/jespers_237.jpg 1600w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/829;\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:23px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"820\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.florisjespers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/jespers_236-1024x820.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-806 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.florisjespers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/jespers_236-1024x820.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.florisjespers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/jespers_236-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.florisjespers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/jespers_236-768x615.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.florisjespers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/jespers_236.jpg 1499w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/820;\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:23px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Work<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Title<\/strong>: Childhood Drawing<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Artist<\/strong>: Floris Jespers<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Date<\/strong>: ca. 1895<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Technique<\/strong>: Pencil and watercolour on paper<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Dimensions<\/strong>: 15.5 x 20 cm<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>In Essence<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This double-sided drawing, made by a six-year-old Floris Jespers, is the <strong>only known work from his youth<\/strong> and perhaps the most <strong>revealing and prophetic document<\/strong> in the entire collection. It is not an ordinary child's doodle, but the <strong>\"artistic DNA\"<\/strong> of the artist, in which the fundamental tension that would define his entire seventy-year career is already fully contained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A Deeper Look<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Two Worlds on One Sheet: The Fundamental Duality<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>On one and the same sheet of paper, the young Floris captures the two great, opposing forces of his time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>pastoral side<\/strong> (Recto) shows a timeless, earthy world: a tree, a stable, stylised animal figures. It is a scene rooted in <strong>nature and tradition<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The <strong>technological side<\/strong> (Verso) catapults us into the future: a confident, dynamic drawing of an <strong>aeroplane<\/strong>, the ultimate symbol of the <strong>machine and modernity<\/strong>.<br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Symbols: A Prophetic Document<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The value of this drawing lies in its unconscious but brilliant synthesis. It shows a child's mind that is as captivated by the past as by the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><strong>Rooted in the Immediate Environment:<\/strong><\/strong> The pastoral scene is the direct precursor to Jespers' later search for an authentic, earthy spirituality. He found this in the <strong>land where he lived and worked<\/strong> \u2014from the coast to the Ardennes. This theme would later culminate in masterpieces like <strong>\"L'Annonciation\"<\/strong> and <strong>\"Saint Francis\"<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Harbinger of the Avant-Gardist:<\/strong> The fascination with the machine predicts his later engagement with <strong>Cubism and Futurism<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Link: The Indispensable Key to the Oeuvre<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>This drawing is the indispensable key that allows us to see the remarkable <strong>consistency<\/strong> in Jespers' oeuvre. His later career was a lifelong attempt to reconcile the two worlds of this drawing. His famous <strong>Congolese period<\/strong> was not a sudden break, but the ultimate synthesis in which the modern gaze of the 'Verso' and the spiritual quest of the 'Recto' merged. Fragmenting the collection would forever destroy this revealing dialogue between the earliest beginning and the later masterpieces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A Unique Document<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">An Irreplaceable Object<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>As the only surviving childhood drawing, this work is by definition a <strong>unicum of the highest heritage category<\/strong>. It is an objectively \"rare and indispensable\" document.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Psycho-archaeological Document<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The work offers a rare, direct, and unfiltered insight into the world of experience, the fascinations, and the budding talent of a future master.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:24px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.florisjespers.com\/en\/?page_id=1460\">Last Drawing<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.florisjespers.com\/en\/?page_id=1469\">Marc groet \u2019s \u2026<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.florisjespers.com\/en\/?page_id=1435\">The Annunciation<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.florisjespers.com\/en\/?page_id=1036\">Discover why the dialogue between 'Childhood Drawing' and the rest of the oeuvre is unique and must not be lost.<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-right is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-d445cf74 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.florisjespers.com\/en\/?page_id=1030\">Back to Masterpieces<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kindertekening Het werk In Essentie Deze dubbelzijdige tekening, gemaakt door een zesjarige Floris Jespers, is het enige gekende werk uit zijn jeugd en wellicht het meest onthullende en profetische document in de hele collectie. Het is geen gewone kinderkrabbel, maar het &#8220;artistieke DNA&#8221; van de kunstenaar, waarin de fundamentele spanning die zijn hele zeventigjarige carri\u00e8re [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1442","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.florisjespers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.florisjespers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.florisjespers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.florisjespers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.florisjespers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1442"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.florisjespers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1442\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1721,"href":"https:\/\/www.florisjespers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1442\/revisions\/1721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.florisjespers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}