Kustlandschap met landweg 1928

Lodewijk Schelfhout made this landscape somewhere, sometime, with ink and paper. I can imagine Schelfhout outside, breathing the air of the coast. He is working on the plate, thinking about light and shade. Look at that tree, it is so solid, the artist has built up layers of marks to give it volume, like a drawing and a sculpture at the same time. It feels very lived in, very ordinary, which is hard to do, you know? There’s something about the quietness of this print that reminds me of other artists who spent a lot of time looking at and depicting the landscape. Maybe it's a response to the Dutch Masters. I wonder if it reminded him of home. Anyway, it shows you how artists are always talking to each other. You just have to learn how to listen.