Landschap bij Amsterdam 1923

Otto Hanrath made this drawing, Landschap bij Amsterdam, with what looks like a wax crayon. It’s all about process, isn’t it? Hanrath’s mark-making has this nervous, searching quality. Everything’s built up from small, hatched strokes, a bit like Cézanne. See how the lines cluster together, creating darker tones and a sense of volume, especially in the foreground boat. The texture feels soft, crumbly almost, like the crayon itself. That big stack of something in the background has this amazing waterfall of vertical marks, which somehow become tree trunks, a heavy bush, and the sky itself. It all becomes this vibrating mass, a web of interconnected marks. It reminds me of some of the early modernists, like Kirchner, who were also trying to capture the feeling of a place, not just its appearance. It’s a beautiful, humble reminder that art isn’t about perfection, but about exploration.