Kasteel Marquette 1776 - 1822

Jan Hulswit created this watercolor and pen drawing of Kasteel Marquette sometime around the late 18th or early 19th century. The composition is divided into three horizontal registers of earth, architecture and sky. This division gives the image a certain clarity, but the effect is disrupted by the artist's use of washes, which bleed across these registers. Hulswit's use of line is also notable. While he carefully delineates the architectural forms, he also allows the lines to dissolve into the washes, creating a sense of atmosphere and transience. This tension between line and wash creates a dynamic interplay between solidity and ephemerality. The architectural subject—a castle—can be interpreted as a signifier of power and permanence. Hulswit challenges these fixed meanings. Through his handling of line, wash, and composition, Hulswit destabilizes the established meaning of the castle, transforming it from a symbol of enduring power into a more ambiguous, transient form.