Amsterdamse Poort te Haarlem 1907 - 1909

Willem Cornelis Rip captured the Amsterdamse Poort te Haarlem in a simple graphite sketch, a landscape across two pages of a sketchbook. I can imagine Rip, maybe on a breezy day in Haarlem, quickly filling the page. See how the marks are scrubby and searching. He's feeling for the light as it hits the gate and ripples across the water. There are two boats suggested with a few lines, just enough to give you a sense of place. It's a functional drawing, you know, something to work from later, maybe. There’s a whole history of landscape painting behind it, but for him, it might just have been about getting something down before the light changed. Think about the long tradition of artists sketching outdoors, connecting to the world, finding inspiration in everyday views, like this unassuming little gate. It’s an ongoing conversation, artists responding to what they see, trying to catch a glimpse of something real.