Sint-Ignatiuskerk in Rotterdam bij avond 1885 - 1931

Frederika Henriëtte Broeksmit made this evocative print of the Sint-Ignatiuskerk in Rotterdam, and I can only imagine that it was dusk. It is all muted tones. It's a lithograph, so there's a flatness to it, but also a real depth through those gradations of tone. I love the way the light seems to emanate from the print itself. Look at how the dark greens and greys of the water and buildings sit against the golden sky. The details of the church are almost lost, just a silhouette, and the tiny boat on the water adds to the sense of scale, and calm. It reminds me a little of Whistler's nocturnes, that same interest in capturing a mood, an atmosphere. Broeksmit clearly isn't trying to give us a photo-realistic view. It's more poetic, more about feeling. These artists understood that art is about so much more than just representation. It's about experience, about the way we see and feel the world.