Figuur op een brug over een rivier 1913 - 1917

Alexander Shilling made this drawing of a figure on a bridge over a river, we think sometime around 1913, with graphite on paper. Can you imagine him there, quickly trying to capture the scene before the light changed? The immediacy of the drawing gives it a really intimate feeling. He’s paying attention to how he renders the light, making it so you can almost feel the coolness of the water. And look at how he renders the trees, they're like dark clouds of scribbled lines. You can see how the bridge acts as this stage for the figures in the distance. I like how this piece feels unfinished, like a sketch. The light is broken up by his expressive mark making, full of potential. It reminds me of the work of other landscape painters like Corot, whose quick sketches feel so modern. With painting we’re always conversing, riffing off the ideas of artists across time, inspiring new ways of seeing and feeling.