Berglandschap met een in de rotsen en gebeitelde figuur 1833 - 1880

Auguste Numans made this landscape drawing using graphite, likely in the mid-19th century. The mountainous scene is built up with fine strokes, capturing the rugged texture and sheer scale of the rock formations. Note the way the artist suggests the human presence in two ways: the pair of figures resting on the hillside, and more mysteriously, the carved figure in the rock face. Both of these elements draw attention to the labor involved in this landscape. The production of graphite, even then, was tied to wider social issues of labor and politics. Yet its use here, to depict the slow, geological work of mountains under pressure, opens up another timescale. It asks us to consider human life in relation to deeper time, a fleeting presence in the face of enduring materials.