Wijd landschap met een weg langs een vaart 1630

Pieter de Molijn made this wide landscape with watercolor on paper. You can really see the influence of the material on the imagery here. The thin washes of pigment create the impression of a low-lying scene, with distant buildings on the horizon. The earth itself is suggested with brown hues, the sky with delicate blues, and the clouds rendered in gray. Landscape drawings like this were made using a limited kit of supplies. The artist would have mixed his own pigments, which would require knowledge of where to source different materials, and how to combine them to achieve different optical effects. This contrasts with the mass production and consumption of art supplies today, which makes the labor and inherent qualities of the materials less visible. So, next time you look at an artwork, take a moment to consider the materials, the making, and the wider context in which it was created. This challenges conventional definitions of art history, and helps us understand the world around us.