Plempen in een sloot, ten zuiden van Amsterdam 1927

Maurits van der Valk made this drawing of a ditch south of Amsterdam with colored crayon. Look how the lines build up the image – it's all about the process. I'm drawn to the textures here; the grain of the paper, combined with soft, smudged crayon marks make for an image that feels both immediate and dreamlike. The muted palette—greys, greens, and browns—evokes a serene, almost melancholic mood, but then there's that little green boat! It's like a pop of hope against the beige and drab. That boat looks like it's floating on top of all those crayon strokes, like a symbol bobbing on the surface of van der Valk's consciousness. It reminds me of the work of someone like Milton Avery, another artist who knew how to get the most out of simplicity. Art isn’t about answers, it’s about the conversation.