Figuur bij bomen 1888 - 1934

Willem Adrianus Grondhout made this tiny etching, Figuur bij bomen, sometime between 1893 and 1934. The whole thing is caught in a web of etched lines, like life itself – a little chaotic, a little messy. I imagine Grondhout hunched over a copper plate, his hand moving, guided by something both seen and felt, a kind of intimate conversation. The figure is taking a rest under some bare trees that could be anywhere. And that's what’s cool here: Grondhout is working in a minor key, finding beauty in the everyday, in the pause. I find myself wondering if he was thinking about Rembrandt while making this? There’s a similar embrace of shadow and quiet observation. Anyway, it makes me wanna grab my own tools and get lost in the process, connecting to a lineage of mark-makers, each of us adding our own little scratch to the surface of art history.