Landschap c. 1901 - 1927

Johan Antonie de Jonge made this landscape with crayon, and it really does feel like a place. You know, sometimes artmaking is about careful planning, but other times it's like letting your hand just wander across the page. Here, the marks are so free, so gestural. The texture is amazing, isn't it? Look at how the crayon creates these rough, almost scratchy lines. Some areas are dense and dark, while others are light and airy. It's like you can feel the wind moving through the trees. The way the artist uses hatching and cross-hatching, it makes you think about how the landscape is constantly shifting and changing, maybe even disappearing. Notice the top right corner, where the lines are almost architectural. It’s not just a landscape, it’s also a kind of record. It reminds me of some of Guston’s looser, more abstract drawings. Artists are always in conversation with each other, even across time. And that's what art is all about, right? Embracing the questions, not necessarily having all the answers.