Duinlandschap 1881 - 1927

Johan Antonie de Jonge made this landscape drawing, probably in situ, using what looks like pencil and maybe some ochre crayon. It feels like he’s reaching for a way to capture not just what he sees, but the feeling of being there. The sandy hues create a foundation, then, with a flurry of marks, he suggests depth and form. See how the weight of the mark-making seems to anchor the bottom left corner, while the rest of the image is light and airy. There's a lovely tension between representation and abstraction, as the drawing dissolves into the blank page. It reminds me of Turner's late watercolors, where the subject seems to emerge from a haze of light and color. Both artists are interested in capturing the ephemeral qualities of light and atmosphere, inviting us to lose ourselves in the sensory experience of the landscape.