Landschap bij Malling Abbey 1858

Curator: Gerrit Postma created this pencil drawing titled *Landschap bij Malling Abbey*, or *Landscape near Malling Abbey*, in 1858. It resides here in the Rijksmuseum. Editor: My first impression is one of tranquility. The soft pencil work creates a hazy, dreamlike quality, and the composition feels balanced and harmonious, doesn’t it? Curator: Indeed. Landscapes in art carry significant emotional weight. Romanticism saw nature as sublime, a place of solace and spiritual awakening. Notice the absence of figures—nature itself becomes the protagonist, reflecting human emotions. Do you think Postma adheres to the tropes of Romanticism? Editor: Sublimity maybe not, though I agree with the sentiment. This is not untamed wilderness. Rather, it’s tamed and manicured; almost theatrical with the strong horizontals and layering. The structure seems more realistic than symbolic; how would you describe its use of line, for example? Curator: The lines are delicate, creating a sense of immediacy as if Postma captured a fleeting moment. Beyond just realism, the site of a ruined Abbey invites speculation. Abbeys symbolized spiritual and intellectual retreat, community. Did Postma visit? Was he considering how this building was used versus what nature provided in the current day? Editor: That´s really interesting. I like your idea of immediacy; the surface certainly supports that: A rough, preliminary sketch. The artist seems less interested in surface realism and more absorbed by capturing the arrangement of forms and massing; shadow and light are the important players here. And it strikes me that the materiality itself, pencil on paper, speaks to something delicate and temporary. Curator: Exactly. Perhaps Postma intended to hint at how even once strong spiritual centres disappear. I see the Abbey remains as vestigial structures. But a counter reading is that nature reclaims. We are simply wayfarers passing through what was. Editor: So, an allegorical exploration of temporality rendered in a fragile medium, the pencil drawing. An eloquent memento mori delivered via the hand and the heart, then. Curator: Precisely, and so different from our noisy world of digital imagery. Postma´s choice of medium requires time and close study to see; perfect! Editor: A quiet rebellion! A reminder to slow down and contemplate. Wonderful!