Gezicht op Brussel 1913

Willem Adrianus Grondhout made this view of Brussels using etching, and it’s all about mark-making, isn't it? The controlled chaos of lines becomes buildings, sky, everything. Up close, you can almost feel the scratch of the needle on the plate, the way the ink clings to the paper. See how some areas are dense with lines, creating depth and shadow, while others are barely touched? It’s like he’s whispering secrets about the city. I'm drawn to the rooftops and the way they overlap, like a puzzle only the artist knows how to solve. The texture is just incredible. It reminds me a bit of Piranesi, that Italian printmaker, who was all about these sprawling, imaginary architectural spaces. But Grondhout's got his own thing going on, a real sense of place and atmosphere. It's a conversation across time, these artists speaking to each other through their marks. And isn't that what art is all about?