Rivierlandschap met bebouwing c. 1901 - 1927

Johan Antonie de Jonge made this river landscape drawing with what looks like graphite on paper. The smudgy graphite and lack of colour gives it a kind of ghostly feel. I imagine the artist wanted to capture the scene quickly. You can feel the movement of his hand. It reminds me of other landscape artists who wanted to show an immediate impression of a place, not just to describe its appearance, but maybe suggest a mood. It makes me think about what it was like to be the artist at that moment, what it felt like to stand by the river and how they translated that feeling onto paper. Look at how the shading of the graphite suggests the stillness of the water. De Jonge’s touch is so light! There’s a real conversation going on in art all the time. Artists are always looking at what others have done and working it through for themselves. I like to think that, in some way, artists are building on each other's work.