Baumreiche Landschaft mit Weg 

Franz Kobell made this landscape drawing with pen and ink sometime between the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The drawing’s energy derives from Kobell’s repeated, rapid strokes and varied marks, describing the landscape with great economy of means. Notice the artist’s skillful use of hatching and cross-hatching to describe the tonal gradations of the terrain. The use of the reed pen allowed for a naturalistic and expressive approach, perfectly suited for the atmospheric and scenic effect that Kobell sought to capture. While the subject is landscape, the work feels more like reportage. Kobell used the humble materials of ink and paper to depict a world being transformed by industry and commerce. The drawing shows us that the most profound art can be made from the simplest means, and that the act of close observation is itself a kind of skilled labor.