Lienden 1916

Lodewijk Schelfhout made this etching called ‘Lienden’ with ink on paper at the beginning of the twentieth century. I can imagine Schelfhout outside, squinting at the view, his hand moving swiftly to capture the stark contrast between the church tower and the luminous sky. I love the way he's used all these tiny, scratchy lines, like whispers on the paper. You can almost feel the crispness of the air and the stillness of the landscape. His bold, expressive lines remind me of other landscape painters like Hercules Segers, who also found a way to turn humble subjects into something sublime. And look at how the light seems to radiate from the tower. It's like Schelfhout is trying to capture not just what he sees, but how it feels to be there, witnessing this scene. Isn't that what we all want to do as artists? To distill a moment, an emotion, into something tangible that others can share. We are all inspired by our predecessors to reimagine ways of seeing, thinking, and experiencing the world.