Landschap of wolkenlucht 1906 - 1907

Willem Witsen made this drawing of a landscape or cloudscape with pencil on paper. Look at the repeated marks, how they build up the clouds and mountains. I can imagine Witsen outside, squinting at the sky, trying to capture the fleeting shapes of the clouds. Did he work quickly, trying to capture the momentary feeling of the light? What kind of a day was it? See how the pencil lines vary in pressure and direction, creating a sense of depth and atmosphere, how the hatching communicates the form. I think it conveys a feeling of vastness and awe, you know, the kind you get when you look out over a big landscape. Artists are always in conversation with each other across time, each one building on what came before. They try to capture something essential about their experience of the world. And for me, the real magic happens when those different voices start to speak to each other, across time and space.