Gezicht op Wijk bij Duurstede met de Grote of Johannes de Doperkerk Possibly 1906 - 1909

Curator: Willem Witsen created this pencil drawing, “View of Wijk bij Duurstede with the Grote or Johannes de Doperkerk,” likely sometime between 1906 and 1909. It resides here with us at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: It has such an unfinished quality, doesn’t it? The hasty, overlapping lines almost create a feeling of impending weather over the cityscape. Very atmospheric. Curator: Absolutely. Witsen, as part of the Amsterdam Impressionism movement, often focused on capturing the mood and atmosphere of a place rather than a photographic representation. He very much explored his vision of Dutch identity and his relation to the place through these townscapes. Editor: And the technique certainly echoes that sentiment. See how he uses hatching to create tonal variation, the way the strokes mimic the density of the depicted structures? It really guides the eye through the composition. It almost has the mood of a graphic novel panel with this restricted palette, despite not resembling this type of art at all. Curator: His cityscapes were exhibited broadly in the early 20th century, tapping into a surge of patriotic pride and reflecting the era’s urbanization and industrial development, yet always from this subjective, personal viewpoint. It is important to keep in mind how art exhibitions themselves promoted nationalist ideas. Editor: It’s a paradox, really. The subject, the city, is a symbol of community, but the sketch itself feels intensely solitary, an impression caught in a fleeting moment. This particular moment gives me a great appreciation of the artwork since I look at it from an era of digital reproduction. What does "originality" even mean? Curator: Perhaps Witsen offers us a mirror reflecting our complex relationship with progress and our enduring longing for connection to a particular place and time. His legacy as painter and photographer should be carefully observed to fully understand the zeitgeist. Editor: It’s this immediacy, this tangible record of a lived moment that makes this sketch so powerful to our senses today.