Landschap, mogelijk een heidelandschap by Willem Witsen

Landschap, mogelijk een heidelandschap c. 1887 - 1897

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drawing, graphite

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drawing

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landscape

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graphite

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realism

Copyright: Rijks Museum: Open Domain

Willem Witsen made this drawing, possibly a heath landscape, with graphite on paper. Graphite, a form of carbon, is favored for its ability to create a range of tones and textures, from soft grays to deep blacks, depending on pressure and layering. The rough texture of the paper supports the landscape's rugged feel. You can see the marks of the graphite stick pulled across the surface. Witsen's technique captures the uneven terrain and sparse vegetation, a sense of the natural world rendered through direct, physical contact. The landscape is not softened; rather, it is recorded as a working environment. The choice of graphite, an industrial material, for a landscape drawing ties into wider social issues of labor. In this view, the directness of the medium invites us to appreciate the landscape's inherent qualities and also to consider the labor and industry embedded in the drawing's material presence. It bridges the gap between the natural world and the human industry that shapes it.

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