Udsigt fra mit køkkenvindue 1935

John Christensen made this watercolor and ink drawing, “View from my Kitchen Window”, in 1938. Look at how the lines almost seem to shake, like the city is alive and buzzing. The way he uses these quivering lines to build the forms of the buildings reminds me that art-making is an act of discovery. The colors are muted, almost ghostly, but there's a surprising little patch of bright green in the foreground, a little verdant courtyard perhaps? It is like a jolt of life in this urban landscape. The surface is delicate, the paper peeking through the thin washes of color. It is kind of like the city itself - a mix of solid structures and fleeting moments. The figures he’s included are great! They are just there in silhouette, living their lives. I keep coming back to the chimney on the left with its plume of smoke rendered in tight, nervous lines. It’s a focal point, drawing my eye upwards and outwards, beyond the confines of the window. This drawing has a kinship with the urban landscapes of artists like Lyonel Feininger, who also captured the energy and rhythms of the modern city with sensitivity and formal inventiveness.