Hooiberg in een weiland 1907

Willem Cornelis Rip made this wee graphite drawing of a haystack in a field, probably en plein air, in front of the subject. What I love about a drawing like this is that you get a feeling for the atmosphere and how the artist felt that day. Rip is really going for it with the sky, almost scribbling in the gathering clouds with dark, energetic marks. You can see the way he built up the form of the haystack with short, confident strokes, really grounding it. I imagine him there, quickly capturing the scene as the light shifts, trying to communicate a sense of place and the looming weather. It’s like Rip is speaking to us across time, sharing a fleeting moment of observation. Artists are always in conversation with each other like that, riffing off what’s come before and inspiring what’s yet to come. It’s through these kinds of intimate expressions that we learn to see and experience the world anew.