Boer met drie ploegende paarden 1904

Gerrit Haverkamp made this print of a farmer with three ploughing horses, but we don't know exactly when. Look at the way the marks build up – almost like the furrows in the field, layer upon layer. Haverkamp is letting the process lead. It's a way of seeing and thinking that's all about the doing. I love the tactile quality, the way you can almost feel the texture of the earth and sky. The shading, the weight of the horses, the density of the clouds is all created by the physical act of applying ink to a surface. Focus on the lower left corner. The mark-making here is so alive! Like a little abstract painting within the larger image. Haverkamp creates a sense of depth and movement by varying the pressure and direction of his marks. I'm reminded a little of Paula Modersohn-Becker's landscapes. Like her, Haverkamp sees the world through the lens of his own making, finding beauty and meaning in the simplest of forms. It is this attention to process and materiality that elevates the ordinary to the extraordinary. Ultimately, art is an ongoing conversation, a dance between the artist and the world.