Keizer-Alexander appel 1920 - 1924

Jac van Looij made this drawing of a Kaiser Alexander apple with graphite on paper. Look at the way he's built up the image: hatching and cross-hatching lines create shading and volume. You can almost feel the give of the fruit, the slight fuzz on its skin. I wonder what it was like to sit with this apple, turning it in his hand, noticing the way the light fell, capturing its essence with simple strokes. The leaves around the apple also seem to be alive, vibrating with energy, almost pulsating. There's an unfinished quality to the background, but that somehow adds to its charm, making it feel intimate and immediate. It reminds me of other artists who have found beauty in the everyday, from Morandi's bottles to Cezanne's apples, all sharing this sensibility through a focus on objects, finding endless inspiration in the world around them. It's like they're saying, "Hey, look at this, isn't it amazing?"