Landschap met bomen 1907

Editor: Here we have "Landschap met bomen," a pencil drawing by Alexander Shilling, dating back to 1907. It feels like a quickly captured moment, like a page torn right out of the artist’s sketchbook. What catches your eye when you look at this piece? Curator: You know, it’s the immediacy of it that gets me. I imagine Shilling, perhaps on a leisurely afternoon, feeling the impulse to simply *record* what’s before him. I find these raw impressions to be far more telling than any perfectly rendered masterpiece, don't you? It feels so personal, so unfiltered. Do you see the little scribbles along the base? The artist seems to have enjoyed leaving his mark here, right next to what seems to be his signature and the date. Editor: Definitely, I can see how it invites you into his creative process. Curator: And it’s not just about what is *in* the sketch but what *isn’t*. There's such negative space, especially in the upper half... How do you interpret that emptiness? It lends a certain… whisper, almost, doesn’t it? Editor: I hadn’t thought of it that way, but now that you mention it, it gives the work a feeling of incompleteness and silence. It is not really 'finished'. Curator: It's an exercise in form and light, this drawing, even beyond subject matter. It's a whisper of a moment, a visual haiku. Shilling isn’t just showing us a landscape; he’s inviting us into his private communion with nature. Isn't that wonderful? Editor: It really is. It makes me want to grab my sketchbook and head outside. I definitely notice so much more in the sketch now. Curator: Exactly. We must be quick and diligent. Nature will not wait.