Landschap met bomen c. 1884 - 1887

Willem Witsen made this landscape with trees using graphite on paper. A humble material, but capable of incredible range. The artist coaxes a variety of effects from the graphite, from the almost velvety darkness of the lower branches, achieved by layering, to the barest suggestion of lines in the sky. Consider how the artist made this. Graphite, after all, is just one form of carbon. And paper, though it seems ubiquitous, has its own history tied to industry and technology. Originally, this artwork may have been considered a mere sketch, a preliminary stage in the making of a painting. But isn't it interesting how the directness of the graphite, the sense of the artist's hand moving across the paper, gives the drawing such immediacy? Paying attention to the materials and how the artist worked with them helps us understand the image in a richer, more meaningful way. It challenges our assumptions about what art is, and what labor goes into it.