Gezicht op Maastricht, 1672 1900 - 1903

This view of Maastricht, made by the Moreau brothers in 1672, is like stepping into a hazy memory. I can almost feel the texture of the paper, the faint grit of the charcoal. Imagine them, the Moreau brothers, side by side, squinting at the scene before them. Was it a race against the fading light? Or maybe a quiet, shared contemplation of their surroundings? The marks are so direct, so unpretentious. The paint seems diluted. It’s more like a wash. There's a deliberate roughness in the depiction of the fortifications that reminds me of Cy Twombly’s landscapes. The loose strokes feel like they're trying to capture not just the look of the city, but also the feeling of being there, the weight of history. It's as though the Moreaus are whispering to us across the centuries, saying, “Look, we were here. We saw this. And now, you see it too.”