Landschap 1909

Johan Antonie de Jonge made this drawing, Landschap, with what looks like charcoal or graphite, and it's all about capturing a mood. I can imagine him out there, squinting, maybe it’s humid or raining. There’s a real sense of atmosphere in the way he’s smudged and layered the dark tones over the page. It feels immediate. Look how the strokes vary in pressure, creating this hazy, undefined space. It reminds me a little of Corot’s landscapes, where the forms seem to dissolve into light and shadow. It's like de Jonge wasn’t so interested in the specifics, but more in conveying the feeling of being in a place. Artists do that: they absorb what’s around them and throw it back to us, transformed. And we look at it and maybe recognize something of ourselves in the exchange.