Gezicht op de plaats Gadok in Java after 1838

Willem Mathol de Jong made this pencil drawing, titled 'Gezicht op de plaats Gadok in Java', at an unknown date. It is an image created with graphite, a humble material that nonetheless has a directness that suits this scene. The pencil lines define the landscape with precision, but also manage to suggest a soft, humid atmosphere. You can almost feel the tropical heat radiating from the scene, rendered simply in graphite on paper. The work depicts a plantation in Java, Indonesia, with an emphasis on the ordered cultivation of the land. Consider the labor required to create and maintain such a landscape, the human effort lying behind it. The drawing acts as a kind of document of the colonial landscape, yet also serves as an aesthetic object in its own right. By considering the drawing's material reality, we can understand how this landscape is presented, and its relation to broader economic and social contexts.