Zilverreigers 1903 - 1932

Adriaan van 't Hoff made this print of two herons, with ink on paper. Look at the surface of the water, the gentle ripple, the delicate lily pads on which the birds are standing, and the way the water almost dissolves into the dark background. It's incredible! I imagine van 't Hoff carefully plotting, erasing, and reconsidering each mark to capture the bird's plumage. Those feathers! It's like a study in tone and texture. You can almost feel the softness of the feathers against your skin, and the delicate arch of the heron's neck. He must have spent hours watching the birds, observing their habits and movements, trying to capture their essence on paper. Artists are always in dialogue with one another, riffing off ideas across time, inspiring each other's creativity, aren't they? Painting is an embodied form of expression, embracing ambiguity and allowing for multiple readings. I wonder what van 't Hoff would think of my paintings?