Duinlandschap 1880 - 1882

George Hendrik Breitner sketched this landscape, a fleeting impression of the Dutch dunes, with pencil. The vertical lines, like primitive tree trunks, dominate the composition. The symbolism of trees is ancient; they connect the earth with the sky, representing growth, stability, and the cycle of life. We see echoes of this motif across cultures, from the Tree of Life in ancient Mesopotamian art to the Yggdrasil in Norse mythology. In this context, these stark trees, roughly hewn, remind me of those sentinel-like figures in medieval woodcuts, silent witnesses to the passage of time. Consider the emotional weight of this image. The bareness, the simplicity – it evokes a sense of solitude, perhaps even a touch of melancholy. The stark lines against the blank page pull at our subconscious. It's a primal landscape, stripped down to its essence, allowing us to connect with the fundamental elements of nature and our own inner landscape. Thus, this symbol, like the trees themselves, extends its reach, branching out into new forms while remaining rooted in the depths of human experience.