Gezicht op Huize De Paauw 1926

Simon Moulijn made this drawing of Gezicht op Huize De Paauw with pen in hand, creating a world through careful looking and mark-making. It's all in black and white, letting the shapes and lines do the talking. Up close, you can really see how the texture of the trees and the lawn in front of the house are made with these tiny, scratchy lines. The house sits back there, solid and still, framed by all that green. The drawing's got this balance between what's clear and what's suggested, what's there and what's left for your imagination to fill in. Looking at this, I think of other artists like, say, Agnes Martin, who also knew how to do so much with a simple line. Both Moulijn and Martin suggest that art is a conversation, always moving, always changing, but always rooted in the act of seeing and making.