Voorstudie van het landgoed van Brandes 1785

Here we see a preparatory drawing of the Brandes estate made by Jan Brandes. The work presents us with an assortment of lines and annotations that sketch out a landscape plan. Its composition, rather than illustrating a scene, provides a structural analysis of space. The lines map out divisions and connections within the landscape, reducing natural forms to geometric patterns and calligraphic annotations. This graphic method dematerializes the landscape into a semiotic field, in which the lines do not represent, but signify, and words function as codes for understanding space and form. The drawing prompts reflection on how space is conceptualized through abstract systems. It challenges conventional modes of representation. Brandes offers a structural framework by which we organize and interpret the world around us, reminding us that our perception of space is always mediated through codes and constructions.