Gezicht op zeilboten te water c. 1920 - 1940

This small sepia-toned photograph shows a view of sailboats on the water, made by G. Hidderley. The scene is bathed in a soft, almost ethereal light. The colour palette seems intentionally restrained, a symphony of muted tones that speak to a slower, more contemplative way of seeing. The texture is smooth, almost velvety, lending the image a tactile quality that invites you to reach out and touch it. Look at the delicate rendering of the clouds and the subtle gradations of light on the water’s surface – it’s as if Hidderley was less interested in capturing a literal depiction of the scene than in evoking a mood, a feeling, a fleeting moment in time. It puts me in mind of the later, equally enigmatic seascapes of someone like Whistler. And, like his work, this piece reminds us that art isn’t just about what we see, but about how we see it.