Landschap met bomen aan het water 1872 - 1939

This drawing, "Landschap met bomen aan het water" by Egbert Rubertus Derk Schaap, probably made with charcoal or graphite, shows us art as a journey of exploration, a dance between the eye and the hand. I love how the marks aren't trying to trick you into thinking this IS a landscape, but rather, they give us the feeling of one. See how the vertical strokes morph into reflections of the trees in the water, or how the scribbled lines above them become a cloudy sky! It’s not about perfect representation but more about mood. The texture created by these marks is palpable; you can almost feel the roughness of the charcoal on paper. There’s a looseness here that reminds me of some of Guston’s later work, though Schaap sticks to a naturalism that Guston abandoned. Both, though, are great examples of how to find real expression through simplicity. It’s the kind of piece that reminds you that art is an ongoing conversation.