Rivierlandschap met een stadsgezicht 1901 - 1907

Willem Witsen made this landscape with a cityscape using graphite, probably en plein air, capturing the scene with an economy of means. The process feels immediate, like he’s chasing the light as it shifts across the flatlands. Look at the texture he achieves, it’s all graphite on paper but the trees have a feathery quality, a scribbled intensity that contrasts with the smooth, almost smudged, ground. The sky is barely there, just a few strokes suggesting clouds, but it’s enough to give a sense of depth. It’s all about suggestion rather than description. The signature in the foreground is almost the most defined mark, a flourish that declares the artist’s presence, it's part of the drawing itself. It reminds me a little of James McNeill Whistler, particularly his etchings, in their shared interest in atmospheric conditions and tonal effects. But Witsen is perhaps a bit more direct, less concerned with aesthetic refinement, and more interested in the raw experience of being in the landscape. For me, art lives in this space, it is a form which embraces ambiguity.