Fen near Saasveld c. 1907

Piet Mondrian made this landscape drawing of a fen near Saasveld with soft charcoal. It feels like the scene emerged as he coaxed the charcoal across the surface. The tonal range is mostly muted, somber even. But I can imagine Mondrian outside, maybe a bit chilly. The horizontal marks that describe the clouds are very different from the vertical marks of the trees. It’s like he’s thinking about the underlying structure of the landscape even as he observes the subtleties of light and atmosphere. The softness of the charcoal gives the whole scene a dreamlike quality. I can almost feel the dampness in the air. You know, Mondrian was so deeply invested in the spiritual and emotional power of abstraction. And you see the seeds of that in this early landscape drawing. It makes you think about how every artist is in conversation with those who came before, and how they will be in conversation with those who follow.