Leiden 1888 - 1934

Willem Adrianus Grondhout made this etching of Leiden, but I don't know when! It's all about seeing the potential of a single, monochrome palette. The magic of etching lies in how the artist coaxes depth and tone from essentially one colour. Look at the sky, for instance. It's not just a flat wash of gray but a whirlwind of tiny lines, each catching the light a little differently. It’s like the artist is building an atmosphere, one scratch at a time. And the way the windmills stand silhouetted against it, they're not just objects; they're players in this atmospheric drama. Grondhout reminds me of Whistler. His way of teasing out the subtle beauty in the everyday and showing us that art isn't always about loud statements. It's about quiet observations, open to interpretation.