Duinlandschap 1912 - 1940

Dick Ket made this landscape drawing of sand dunes with pencil on paper, but when? Well, it doesn't say exactly. But it's how the pencil lays down on the surface that gets me. It’s like he’s gently coaxing the scene into existence. There's a real tenderness in the way he renders the landscape. The soft gradations of tone feel like he is caressing the paper with his pencil. Check out that little bush in the middle-ground, isn't that just delicious? It's more about the feeling of a place than a literal transcription. It’s not about being flashy, it’s about close looking and quiet contemplation. Think of other landscape artists like, say, Hercules Segers. Ket shares that same interest in the tonal possibilities of seemingly simple subjects. It’s a reminder that art is always in conversation with itself, echoing and transforming ideas across time. It embraces that space of ambiguity that gets me really going.