Landschap met een dorp op de achtergrond 1891 - 1941

Leo Gestel made this landscape drawing with charcoal, capturing a village scene. I see the artist trying to feel out the space, laying down charcoal lines, rubbing them in, smudging to create a sense of form and depth. Imagine Gestel standing there, squinting at the village in the distance, trying to capture the essence of the place. Maybe he was thinking about Cezanne, how he built up forms with simple strokes. Look at the way he's rendered the trees with these quick, confident lines. It’s all suggestion, just enough to evoke the feeling of a village nestled in the landscape. These marks feel raw and direct, as though he's trying to get something down quickly, before it disappears. There's a real conversation between observation and expression, as it’s not so much a record of the scene, as a feeling of being there. Painters are always looking at each other's work. They are inspired by one another. That's the beauty of art, this continuous dialogue across time and space.