Gambar, koffie-en rubberplantage met de vulkaan De Kloet c. 1921

Willem Witsen made this painting of a coffee and rubber plantation with the Kloet volcano, probably in the Dutch East Indies, using oil on canvas. I’m imagining him on location, squinting in the heat, trying to capture that pale, hazy light on the mountains. The paint is so thin, almost like watercolor, but with a definite sense of the real. The scene shimmers in a sort of sepia monochrome. Look at the scumbled brushwork in the trees – you can almost feel the humidity. It’s so interesting how he’s captured the enormity of nature with such delicate, fleeting strokes. He’s finding a way to make a connection to his surroundings. It reminds me of Whistler's tonalist landscapes, where atmosphere and mood are everything. I wonder if Witsen knew his work? Anyway, it’s this kind of looking and mark-making that keeps the conversation of painting alive. Artists learn from and build upon each other, and isn’t that what it’s all about?