Boomgaard 1916

Lodewijk Schelfhout made this print titled, Boomgaard, or Orchard in 1916. Look at all those marks, made with a drypoint technique, they form a tangle of lines and shapes, creating a landscape with a windmill, a field, and a large tree in the foreground. I can imagine Schelfhout digging into that plate, working and reworking the composition, making the marks darker and deeper, so the image emerges from the shadows. What was he thinking as he drew? Was he trying to capture the feeling of the Dutch countryside, or just trying to work something out? Look at the way the tree seems to anchor the whole image. Notice how the windmill feels like a symbol of a time gone by. Maybe Schelfhout wanted to contrast a natural idyll with industrial change. Maybe he just liked windmills! Either way, this print invites you to slow down, to see and feel a space being built with marks.