Landschap met bomen c. 1909s

Alexander Shilling made this pencil sketch in a landscape at an unknown date. It’s a double-page spread from what looks like a sketchbook. On the left, we've got this flurry of vertical strokes, a bit like rain, or maybe a dense forest seen from afar. Then, on the right, some delicate trees sketched with such a light touch, like he barely wanted to disturb the paper. I imagine Shilling out there, maybe on a breezy day, quickly trying to capture the essence of the scene. There's a real contrast between the two sides of the book - the energy of the forest and the calm of the trees. Did he intend to leave it like that? This reminds me of some of the landscape painters from the 19th century who were all about capturing a feeling, a moment in time, rather than a perfect representation. It’s a conversation across time, across artists, each one adding their own brushstroke to the ongoing story of seeing and feeling the world.