Landschap met figuur c. 1895 - 1896

Chris Huidekooper made this delicate sketch, 'Landschap met figuur', at an unknown date, using graphite on paper. Huidekooper lived through a period of intense social and political change. After the first World War, there was a shift towards more introspective and subjective forms of artistic expression. We can see this in the sketch’s intimate scale and the tentative, searching quality of the lines. The gender of the figure is not clearly defined and the figure is part of the landscape rather than dominating it. The sketch seems to echo Virginia Woolf’s call to see both the male and female perspectives. The landscape feels like a stage, and we are left wondering about the figure's story. Huidekooper seems to be inviting us to consider the intersection of identity and environment, asking us to reflect on our own place within the world.