Delftsche Poort 1885 - 1931

Frederika Henriëtte Broeksmit made this print, Delftsche Poort, and it looks like she used some kind of etching or drypoint technique. I can see Broeksmit circling the subject, trying to find a likeness, repeating lines and searching for something to appear. You know, there is a tenderness in this constant search and correction, as if trying to find an essence that is somehow already there. What might she have been thinking when she made this work? Perhaps she was interested in the architecture of the gate and the space it created. Her marks have this sketchy, open quality, leaving space for multiple possibilities. With repeated viewings, I see how the image oscillates between solid form and a more nebulous atmosphere. It reminds me of other artists such as Whistler, and the way he used etching to create atmospheric views of cities. Artists are in an ongoing conversation! Painting, printmaking, drawing—it’s all part of the same exchange of ideas, inspiring creativity across time. It allows for multiple interpretations and meanings beyond the immediately visible.