Italiaans bergdorp 1924

Leo Gestel made this drawing of an Italian mountain village, using pencil, maybe charcoal - something like that. I love how the artist simplifies the scene. Look at the rooftops, like stacked blocks, and the mountain behind it. It’s almost as if he’s building the village rather than just representing it. The texture comes alive through the hatching and cross-hatching, creating a really tactile surface - you can almost feel the roughness of the stone and earth. And that dark shadow on the left, framing the village, pulls you right in. It's a somber and simplified palette which gives the scene a timeless quality. Gestel was part of a movement that was really into breaking things down to their basic forms, so this piece is a perfect snapshot of that moment. It reminds me a little of Cézanne - his interest in structure - but with a quieter, more contemplative mood. Art, right? Always echoing, always changing.