Molen aan het water bij Wijk bij Duurstede c. 1906

Willem Witsen created this small etching of a mill by the water at Wijk bij Duurstede, using delicate lines to conjure a quiet landscape. I’m really drawn to the way Witsen used the etching technique. It’s like he’s sketching with acid, biting into the metal to leave these tiny marks. You can almost feel him wavering, trying to define the shapes of the water and the sky. It must have been such a solitary thing to stand there with the copper plate, trying to catch the mood of that place, the water, the windmill turning in the wind. When you look at it, you can think about Rembrandt’s etchings and how so many artists were trying to capture the Dutch landscape. Witsen adds his voice to that conversation. Artists are always responding to each other, you know, it’s a continuous dialogue across time. And in this small piece, you get a sense of that – the history of art mixing with the artist's feelings. There’s room for all sorts of responses and interpretations in the exchange.