Rivieroever met schepen te Benares Possibly 1914

Wijnand Otto Jan Nieuwenkamp made this graphite drawing of the riverbank with boats in Benares, maybe on location, maybe back in the studio from sketches. I can feel the artist carefully layering the marks, building up the scene. There’s such tender attention to detail, from the architecture of the buildings to the figures working on the shore. I imagine him, squinting in the sun, trying to capture the light shimmering on the water. See how he’s used tiny strokes to suggest movement and reflection? It's a beautiful translation of a lively scene into a static image. I wonder if Nieuwenkamp was thinking of earlier landscape artists, like Canaletto? This feels so informed by a long tradition, yet utterly its own thing. It’s like he's inviting us to step into his shoes, to see the world through his eyes, and to appreciate the simple beauty of a moment in time. Painting is just such an incredible act of bearing witness, right?