Bijgebouw in de natuur op Java c. 1921

Willem Witsen made this etching of a rural building on Java, but it's undated. What I notice is the density of marks. Witsen uses lots of short, quick lines to build up the image, almost like he's scribbling. This approach gives the scene a sense of immediacy. The texture is amazing, isn't it? You can almost feel the rough surface of the thatched roof, created with these dry, scratchy lines. The plants in the foreground are particularly evocative, made with confident strokes that suggest movement and vitality. It's all in monochrome, but this emphasizes the tonal variations, creating depth and shadow. If you look closely at the tree on the left, you can see how the network of lines creates a sense of airy volume. Witsen was part of the Amsterdam Impressionism movement, along with artists like George Hendrik Breitner. Like them, he was interested in capturing everyday scenes, but he brought his own unique, graphic sensibility to the task. To me, this little building feels like a perfect example of how art embraces ambiguity.