Treetops 

Curator: Here we have "Treetops," a pencil drawing currently held here at the Städel Museum and attributed to Peter Becker. Editor: You know, seeing this, I immediately feel this sense of almost haunted serenity. Like the ghost of a forest lives here. The soft greys give it such an ephemeral feel. Curator: That's interesting because it's incomplete, an unfinished piece. So, what does that imply when we talk about a forest ghost or a haunted serenity, since the social, economic, and political history surrounding natural landscapes in art have frequently highlighted power structures and access rights? This work feels as if it is both present, as something emerging, yet incomplete. Editor: Exactly. It is that emerging quality! And the medium really emphasizes it too. With pencil on paper you can almost feel the artist sketching and adjusting in real-time, a thought captured in fragile graphite. There’s an intimacy and fragility to this technique that something bolder just couldn't express. Like capturing something fading from memory, that is almost lost already. Curator: The choice of subject combined with a lighter hand is indeed remarkable when positioned alongside art’s historical engagement with nature. There's so much commentary we can provide related to environmental exploitation in which the very concept of wilderness as this untouched and "natural" space requires interrogation. This drawing with its sketched style doesn't carry the monumental impact we frequently see, even in landscape sketches of the 18th and 19th centuries, which makes me wonder how our interpretations might shift. Editor: Absolutely, that's true. I wonder if that delicate touch is actually the point here. Like, what's more haunting than realizing something precious is fading away before our eyes, almost intangible? And it’s unfinished as if that makes the loss more palpable. It lets us know that it is not yet done. I mean it is like capturing light itself more than any defined, detailed space. Curator: A fleeting impression indeed. The lack of firm outlines does render that sense of fragility but with hope and potential, as it pushes against conventional landscape depictions to express deeper emotions and provoke a much-needed dialogue. Editor: You know, looking at it again, I think the artist definitely captured something really special with just a humble pencil. So delicate, yet speaks volumes.