Fen near Saasveld c. 1907

Piet Mondrian made this drawing, Fen near Saasveld, with charcoal and chalk. Look how he layers the marks to create these muted tones. It's almost like he's feeling his way through the landscape, one mark at a time. The texture is so important here; you can almost feel the grittiness of the charcoal on the paper. Notice the smudges and blurred lines in the sky which create a sense of atmosphere, a hazy, dreamlike quality. Then, there's that thick, dark band across the middle, defining the treeline. It's so solid, so present. You can see how Mondrian is working through a process, where each mark is a decision, a step towards understanding the landscape. Thinking about Mondrian's later, more abstract work, you can see how these early landscapes laid the groundwork. He’s figuring out how to distill the world down to its essence. Art is a conversation, an ongoing exploration, and this drawing is a whisper from one artist to another across time.