Veere 1888 - 1934

Willem Adrianus Grondhout made this print of Veere with etching sometime between 1900 and 1934. I wonder what it was like to stand there and draw this place? The network of tiny lines and cross-hatching feels both studied and improvised. It’s a real balancing act, and I admire how the artist captures the scene’s character with such minimal means. There’s a great push-pull dynamic between the darker, concentrated marks that describe the architecture and the more open areas, like the sky and water, which feel light and airy. I can see him, squinting and trying to capture the precise angles of the buildings, deciding where to add detail and where to leave things more ambiguous. His hand moving across the plate, guided by memory and feeling, not just sight. It makes me think about other printmakers like Whistler, who were similarly drawn to capturing fleeting moments and atmospheric effects in their work. It's easy to see how one artist can inspire another across generations. The image stays with you and then it comes out in your own work.