Heuvellandschap 1891 - 1892

Curator: We’re now looking at a page from a sketchbook by Willem Cornelis Rip. This graphite and pencil drawing, aptly titled "Heuvellandschap"—or "Hill Landscape"—dates back to around 1891-1892. It is a quick notation, of what I'd suggest must have been an encounter within nature. Editor: Encounter, exactly! That's what I feel looking at this. There’s something raw about it, almost urgent. A whisper of land. Just rocks, sparse growth, almost devoid of comfort or charm and that's... compelling. Curator: I'm so glad that is your impression! You see, it exemplifies a realist style, capturing an honest and straightforward observation. But, beyond the formal landscape approach that many artists adopted through their Salon engagement in Paris, Rip engaged with society as part of a cultural turn towards rural life, taking cues from artists who had formed the Hague School, making work from humble surrounds. Editor: Humble is right! These subdued tonalities are incredible for such simple media—pencil on paper is easy to ignore as expressive, or potent, or powerful. Yet, he’s created this real feeling of rough texture, even grit, but with such quiet marks. Do you think the notes scribbled there detract, or add to its purpose as study, maybe for something larger? Curator: Those notations do pose a historical challenge. It's unclear if these numerical notations were added by the artist himself or a later collector; such details influence our understanding of how these pieces were seen in their time, you see. How did value judgements attach? Editor: Either way, they’re integrated now. Part of the landscape, these scratches of ink among scratches of pencil. I enjoy the idea that these two aspects co-exist on the page—process and product, merged as evidence. What I now wonder, how did something sketched on the spot in a sketchbook—end up framed on a gallery wall? Curator: Ah, excellent. And, I am sure we can get into this on another stop on the tour. For now, though, let us say that this small drawing asks grand questions. Editor: Yes, absolutely, a whole philosophy of seeing in this one simple page.