Palmboom Possibly 1920 - 1924

Willem Witsen made this pencil drawing of a palm tree, and you can really see his hand in the making of it. The paper is almost entirely blank, so the plant looks isolated. The foliage and trunk are rendered in these short, nervous strokes of graphite. I can imagine the artist sitting outside on a hot day, trying to capture the essence of this tropical tree. See how the marks vary in pressure and direction? Witsen has built up the image slowly, adding layer upon layer to create depth. Look closely and you will see how he's used these marks to evoke the texture of the trunk, the curve of the leaves, and the overall form of the tree. The whole tree seems to be gently swaying. There is something so intimate and immediate about seeing an artist's hand at work like this. It reminds us that artmaking is a process of exploration and discovery. Witsen reminds me of Cezanne, both have this commitment to capturing the fleeting moments of the natural world.