Gezicht op een bospad c. 1920

Here is your Audio guide script: This is Johan Antonie de Jonge’s drawing of a forest path made with charcoal on paper. Look at how the artist smudged the charcoal to create shadows. It’s like watching him work, seeing how the image emerges from the dark. The texture is rough, raw almost. You can practically feel the charcoal scratching against the paper. The contrast between the black charcoal and the pale paper makes the forest path feel almost like a hidden, mysterious place. See that one thick, dark line on the right? It kind of anchors the whole composition. It makes me think of how we find our way through the woods, by following a trail or a landmark. De Jonge makes me think of other artists who loved the woods, like the German painter Caspar David Friedrich. But where Friedrich’s forests are romantic and sublime, De Jonge’s feels more immediate, more real. It’s a reminder that art is about the journey, not just the destination.