Wilg in een winterlandschap 1940

Lodewijk Schelfhout made this etching of a winter landscape, sometime between 1900 and 1943. It’s all done in these very economical lines, so delicate, but it conjures up so much. It's more about the feeling of the landscape. Look at the trunk of the tree, it's this thick, textured thing. You can almost feel the cold, rough bark. And then the branches, just these quick, whispy lines reaching out. It’s a single view, but the composition is dynamic, moving back into space along the receding fence line. It reminds me of some of Guston’s later work, that same simplicity, but with so much emotion packed in. The way he captures the bareness of winter with just a few marks is amazing. It’s about suggestion, not description. Art doesn't have to show everything to say everything, you know?