Landschap, mogelijk een duinlandschap 1881 - 1927

This landscape, maybe a dune landscape, by Johan Antonie de Jonge, feels like a study in contrasts, split right down the middle. On one side, there’s this intense build-up of charcoal marks, a real density of tone that suggests a stormy sky or maybe just a heavy mood. Then, bam! The other side is almost blank, a void. It's as if de Jonge is showing us the act of seeing itself, the push and pull between what’s there and what we imagine. Look closely at the left side. See how the charcoal isn’t just applied smoothly? There are these frantic, scribbled lines, especially in the sky, giving the impression of the wind. It reminds me of the importance of negative space; what's left unsaid is just as important as what's drawn. Think of late Turner, whose colour palette is almost as restrained. With de Jonge there is an openness and willingness to embrace incompleteness.