Winter Landscape c. 1885 - 1922

Willem Witsen painted this 'Winter Landscape' on canvas, but when I look at it, I see the grey and white palette in front of me as an exercise. Up close, the paint's not trying to trick you into seeing snow. It's just paint, scrubbed and layered to give the impression of snow, like a memory of snow. The brown houses in the mid-ground feel like a grounding element, like Witsen needed to include them to prevent the whole thing from floating away. And then you notice those few small specks of green in the foreground. Are they grass? Probably not, but Witsen needed them. It's like he’s saying, "Look, I know this is almost nothing, but there's a lot going on here." It reminds me of Courbet and Whistler, or maybe even more contemporary artists like Gerhard Richter, who also pursue the same kinds of ideas around process and perception.