Figuren in een landschap met bomen 1870 - 1931

This expressive sketch, Figuren in een landschap met bomen, was created by Willem Bastiaan Tholen. Notice how the composition divides the scene into distinct visual planes. In the foreground, Tholen skillfully renders the stark, bare trees. These skeletal forms reach upward, creating a dense network of lines that command our attention. The monochromatic palette, executed in a drawing style, emphasizes the contrast between light and shadow. Figures are sparsely placed throughout the landscape. Tholen uses an economy of line that destabilizes established conventions of depth and perspective. The starkness of the trees, set against the muted background, evoke a sense of quiet isolation, enhanced by the flatness of the picture plane. This flattening reflects a broader artistic shift away from illusionistic representation towards emphasizing the intrinsic qualities of the medium. The drawing’s power lies not in its descriptive accuracy but in its ability to evoke mood through the formal arrangement of line and space, inviting us to contemplate the very nature of seeing and representation.