Gezicht over de Rapenburgwal op de Montelbaanstoren c. 1912

Willem Witsen etched this view over the Rapenburgwal towards the Montelbaanstoren sometime in the late 19th, early 20th century. The sepia ink bleeds a little into the paper, giving everything a slightly soft focus. It’s as if the artist wasn’t so interested in detail, as in the feeling of the place, the quiet hum of the canal. Look at the reflections in the water, the way that the buildings are mirrored with these soft vertical lines. They almost dissolve the solid forms of the architecture. It’s all in these subtle gestures, the delicate lines that suggest more than they describe. Painters like Whistler come to mind, with their tonalist approaches. But Witsen has a kind of bluntness, a directness that feels very modern to me. It’s there in the lack of sentimentality and the way he embraces the beauty of the everyday. Nothing is hidden, everything is on show. It’s a very contemporary attitude.