Winter 1978 achter de zuivelfabriek Holten 1978 - 2009

In 1978, Kees Stoop captured "Winter 1978 achter de zuivelfabriek Holten" with what looks like charcoal on paper. I can imagine Stoop, out there in the cold, squinting at the scene behind the dairy factory. Bundled up, he makes quick marks. Lines dart this way and that, building a thicket of branches in front of a building. I love how the white of the paper peeks through, suggesting snow and a sort of bleak atmosphere. It's like he’s thinking through feeling. The bare trees are just scribbles, nervous and scratchy, but they somehow get at the heart of winter's desolation. I wonder if Stoop ever saw Guston's late work? There's a similar kind of directness, an embrace of the messy and the raw. Each artist conversing across time. You can feel the cold in your bones.