Landschap, mogelijk een duinlandschap 1909

Johan Antonie de Jonge made this landscape drawing with graphite, a dance of greys on paper, and a lightness of touch that really sings. I imagine de Jonge out in the dunes somewhere, squinting at the light, pencil in hand. He’s not trying to capture every detail, but rather, the feeling of the place – the way the sand shifts, the sky stretches out, the tough grasses stubbornly holding on. Look at the scribbled lines, so free and easy. You can almost feel the breeze! It’s like he’s talking to the paper, not telling it what to be, but asking it to collaborate, to become a landscape together. It reminds me of sketches by other landscape artists, like Constable. And isn’t that what painting, what drawing, is all about? A conversation between artist, material, and world. I can really feel that in this lovely piece.