Studie, mogelijk van een landschap Possibly 1920 - 1924

This drawing, possibly of a landscape, was made by Willem Witsen. The mark making here is so simple, just a single line snaking down the page. It reminds me that artmaking is really just a process of decision making. Where to put the line, how dark to make it, when to stop? The graphite is thin, almost transparent, and the line wavers and changes weight as it moves. Look how, near the top, the line almost breaks apart, then becomes firmer and more confident lower down. It's as if the artist is feeling their way through the landscape, mapping a route through the unknown. Maybe that's what drawing always is, a journey into the uncertain. The way the line turns back on itself slightly makes me think of Cy Twombly. In both, there is the same sense of openness to the possibilities of the medium. After all, art is an ongoing conversation, not a final statement.