Gebouwen in een landschap 1881 - 1927

Johan Antonie de Jonge created this landscape with buildings using graphite or charcoal, achieving a striking tonal range. The composition is divided into three horizontal sections: foreground, middle ground, and sky, each densely marked with textural strokes. Notice how the darker foreground leads the eye towards the lighter buildings in the midground, creating a sense of depth, while the sky is treated with soft gradations, suggesting atmospheric perspective. The buildings are rendered with sharp, angular lines, contrasting with the more organic forms of the landscape. This interplay between geometric and organic shapes is essential. This drawing flattens pictorial space, challenging conventional landscape aesthetics and pointing towards a modernist sensibility, where the flatness of the picture plane is acknowledged rather than concealed. The stark contrast between light and shadow, coupled with the artist's active mark-making, suggests a dynamic engagement with the subject. Ultimately, it reflects a tension between representation and abstraction.