Afgemeerde schuiten 1888 - 1931

Willem Adrianus Grondhout made this small etching of boats, right here in the Netherlands, sometime between the late 19th and early 20th century. I can picture him down by the water, sketching, trying to get the light just right on those boats and pilings. Look at the way he's used all those tiny lines to build up the darks and lights. It reminds me of some of Rembrandt’s prints. You know, that feeling of being right there, seeing the boats bob in the water? I wonder what Grondhout was thinking about as he worked. Was he just trying to capture a pretty scene, or was he trying to say something about the lives of the people who used those boats? Artists are always in conversation with each other, and with the world. We make things, we look at things, and we respond. It’s a beautiful, messy, ongoing process.