Zeegezicht c. 1920

Johan Antonie de Jonge made this seascape with strokes of grey and white. It looks like the kind of drawing you do to figure something out, a process of feeling your way through the fog. The way the marks are laid down, it could be charcoal or maybe even pastel. There's something really interesting in the contrast between the softness of the strokes and the very defined horizon line. It’s as if the sky and sea are dissolving into one another. See that darker patch near the top? It's almost like a bruise. The whole surface has this kind of velvety texture, like the world seen through a rain-streaked window. It reminds me a bit of James McNeill Whistler's nocturnes. De Jonge probably knew them. But while Whistler's paintings are all about atmosphere, this drawing feels rawer, more immediate. It’s not just about what the sea looks like, but about the act of trying to capture it, like a fleeting thought. It’s art embracing the beauty of uncertainty.