Gezicht te Edam 1901 - 1909

Wijnand Otto Jan Nieuwenkamp made this ink drawing, 'Gezicht te Edam', with a very fine nib and a lot of patience. It looks like he loved Edam! I wonder what Nieuwenkamp was thinking as he painstakingly built up each little mark. Notice how the network of tiny hatched marks gives you a sense of the brickwork, but also suggests the passing of time, and the sense of a place lived-in and loved. The reflections in the water are especially mesmerizing. Each one is placed with such consideration. This reminds me of other artists like Piranesi and Klinger, who let their imaginations lead them into these obsessive and almost otherworldly details. Artists are always looking, copying, and riffing on each other, and their art. The practice of artmaking is always a conversation. It is a language that we learn to speak through touch, and seeing, and feeling. It never stops.