Gezicht op een Italiaanse stad aan het water c. 1937

Reijer Stolk made this view of an Italian waterfront town sometime between 1910 and 1945, using colored pencil on paper. The pale blues, yellows, and greens give it a sun-faded, postcard-y feel. You can almost imagine Stolk there, squinting in the sunlight, his hand moving back and forth across the paper, layering those colors to build up the image. I wonder if he was thinking about the long history of landscape painting while he was making this? Or maybe he was just trying to capture a nice scene to send home to someone he loved. The way he renders the water with simple, horizontal strokes reminds me of some of Agnes Martin's grid paintings. And the way the buildings are stacked up, one next to the other, makes me think of Giorgio Morandi's still lifes. Artists are always in conversation with each other, whether they know it or not. Each one building on what came before, and adding something new to the mix.