Landschap met zon en twee figuren 1877 - 1950

Barbara Elisabeth van Houten made this landscape with, what looks like, etching. A hazy sun hangs in the distance, overseeing two figures. I wonder what it was like for her to create this image. It’s so minimal, but also so loaded. What was she thinking when she made it? It seems like there's a real emotional resonance within the surface - the way the light is rendered, the way the figures are placed, and the grainy texture of the ground. It feels like a moment of reflection or contemplation. Perhaps she was thinking of the Barbizon school? I can almost feel the cool, damp air. Painters are always looking at other paintings, we are always in conversation with one another, it’s like one big game of telephone. I think painting, more generally, is about embracing ambiguity, and I like that about this work. I like that there’s no one way to read it.