Grashalmen c. 1944 - 1990

Kees Stoop made this print, Grashalmen, using etching and drypoint. I can imagine Stoop getting up close to those blades of grass, really looking at them. I feel like he's right there, hunkered down, tracing each one, feeling the scratch of the drypoint needle. The lines are so delicate and dense, they're like a thicket of thought made visible. I'm thinking about the patience and care it would take. It is almost meditative, a slow, deliberate act of paying attention to the natural world. Stoop is part of a long tradition of artists drawn to nature, not just for its beauty, but for its complexity. It's like he's saying, hey, look at this patch of grass, it's a whole world in itself. I feel invited into Stoop's world.