Landschap met huifkar en woonwagen c. 1915

Jan Daum's etching shows a landscape with a covered wagon and a caravan, rendered in delicate lines. I imagine Daum, bent over the plate, carefully incising each stroke, responding to the world he saw around him. The sky is implied with the barest suggestion of a cloud, and the trees stand tall and thin, like figures in a crowd. The caravan moves along the road, suggesting a transient life, always on the move. What were they thinking when they decided to leave their home behind? What feelings did they carry with them? Daum captures a moment of stillness, but also implies a journey. I think of other artists like Van Gogh who were also drawn to the lives of ordinary people, and how they found beauty in the everyday. It's a conversation that continues to this day, artists responding to one another across time, finding new ways to see the world.