Fotoreproductie van een prent van een gezicht op de buitenplaats Bos en Vaart te Haarlem door Hendrik de Leth 1900 - 1930

This photogravure of Bos en Vaart country house near Haarlem, its date unknown, is like a detailed drawing made from tiny, energetic scratches. I imagine the artist, whoever they were, leaning over the copper plate, squinting, repeating the same mark over and over, watching the image slowly materialize. What was it like to sit with this scene, trying to capture all its details, from the clouds to the little man standing on the gazebo? I sympathize with this unknown artist, trying to hold a fleeting moment still, trying to capture something solid out of thin air. The work has a funny combination of precision and spontaneity. It reminds me that all mark-making is a kind of conversation, with oneself, with the subject, with the history of art. This piece seems to belong to a lineage of landscape art, where each artist borrows and reinvents what came before. It’s a quiet reminder that art is always an ongoing process of exchange, a lively dialogue across time.