Heide bij Exloo c. 1904 - 1912

Ferdinand Oldewelt captured this landscape, Heide bij Exloo, with what looks like graphite on paper. You can tell from the marks that he’s really letting the pencil do its thing. The texture here is so alive, and I love the way the softness of the graphite creates a dreamy, almost hazy atmosphere. See how the marks build up to define the edges of the trees and the contours of the land. It's like he's feeling his way through the landscape. There’s a gestural quality to the marks, especially in the foliage on the left. Each stroke seems to carry the energy of the moment, a kind of shorthand for the complexity of nature. This reminds me a little of some of Guston's looser drawings, where the line is free to wander and explore. It’s this kind of open-endedness, this willingness to embrace uncertainty, that makes art so endlessly fascinating.