Dorpsgezicht met molen c. 1909s

Alexander Shilling made this sketch of a village scene with a windmill, probably in a notebook. The lines are so light, almost tentative, aren’t they? It's like he's feeling his way through the landscape. There's a real sense of immediacy here, like Shilling's trying to capture the essence of the scene before it disappears. Look at the windmill, those quick, scribbled lines give it so much volume. You can almost feel the breeze turning those sails. Then, on the other side, the village itself is barely there, just a few hints of buildings and trees. Shilling is not trying to give us the whole picture, just a fleeting glimpse. It's like a memory, or a dream. It reminds me a bit of some of Guston’s looser, more abstract works, where the image is just starting to take shape, and the viewer is invited to fill in the blanks.