Landschap met boerderij tussen bomen 1929

Leo Gestel made this landscape with farm between trees with chalk, or something like it. Look at how soft it is, almost smudged, in a way that’s really dreamy. Gestel really lets the medium do its thing here, right? Chalk is so immediate, and it's clear he’s not trying to hide that. The texture is super present. It’s all about this push-and-pull between light and dark, and that softness gives the whole scene a kind of hazy, remembered quality. It’s less about the specific details of the farm and more about the feeling of being in that space. Check out how he’s handled the trees on the left. Those dark, bold strokes, they aren’t trying to trick you into thinking they are actual trees! Instead, they're more like the idea of trees, or the memory of them. I’m reminded of Alfred Kubin, another master of dreamlike, unsettling landscapes rendered with a similar tonal range. Gestel reminds us that art isn't always about capturing reality, but about exploring other ways of seeing it.