Twee figuren in de duinen 1908

Alexander Shilling made this drawing of two figures in the dunes with pencil. I can imagine him out there in the landscape, squinting into the sun, translating what he sees into a quick, energetic sketch. Look at the way he's used these energetic lines, almost scribbles, to capture the scene. It’s like he’s trying to bottle the wildness of the dunes, the way the wind whips the sand around. The figures themselves are barely there, just suggestions of people amidst the landscape. I wonder if Shilling felt a connection to those figures, or if they were just part of the scenery. Maybe he saw something of himself in their smallness against the vastness of nature. I think of other artists like Van Gogh, who also found beauty and drama in the everyday, who understood the power of a simple line to convey so much feeling. I love how artists, through their work, inspire and challenge each other, creating a visual dialogue across time. Shilling's drawing invites us to see the world with fresh eyes.