Landscape (from McGuire Scrapbook) 1908

This is James Henry Moser's 'Landscape' from the McGuire Scrapbook. It was made with graphite, and I like the fact that it’s a landscape but it could also be a kind of abstract field of marks. There’s something about the texture, the way he’s layered and blended the graphite, it gives the whole scene a soft, almost hazy quality, like looking through a fogged-up window. If you look closely at the big tree on the left, you can see these almost frantic, scribbled marks, especially around the edges of the branches. They feel so alive, like the tree is trembling or vibrating with energy. It’s as if the artist has captured not just the appearance of the landscape, but also its fleeting, temporal essence. The atmospheric quality reminds me of Whistler's Nocturnes, but Moser's got a more immediate and personal touch. The ambiguity is what keeps me coming back, its not just a picture, but a feeling.