Gezicht op huizen tussen bomen door 1919

Frits van den Berge made this print called “Gezicht op huizen tussen bomen door” or “View of houses through trees” and you can see that Van den Berge, with his cuts, slices, and textures, is trying to catch something elusive. There’s a real push-pull here, dark ink against the white of the paper, that reminds me how artists are always wrestling with the medium, finding the meeting point between control and letting go. I imagine him working on this, maybe outside, trying to capture the light filtering through the trees, the way it hits the houses in the distance. I see him, not just recording what’s there, but trying to feel it. There’s something about the graphic nature of printmaking that lends itself to this kind of moody expression. The artist must have felt like this print was a way to convey a feeling, a mood. It's all about how one artist can speak to another across time, sharing in the same struggle, the same joy of making.