Dennenbomen in duinlandschap 1867 - 1935

Maurits van der Valk made this beautiful print of Dennenbomen in duinlandschap, or pine trees in a dune landscape, with etching. I love to imagine the artist working on this piece, gently building up these lines, and the many, many decisions involved in creating an image like this. Van der Valk uses a restrained palette of blacks, grays, and whites. When you're so restricted with color, mark-making becomes extremely important! Look at the trunks in the foreground and how the lines delineate the texture of the bark. The linear quality of the scene reminds me of other landscape painters like Mondrian. There is a deep conversation happening between artists and across time, inspiring one another’s creativity. Artists are always in an ongoing exchange of ideas. Like painting, printmaking embraces ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations.