Reproductie van een schilderij van een gebouw aan het water van Jan van Goyen before 1883

Joseph Maes created this reproduction of Jan van Goyen's waterside building, likely as a print, rendered in shades of grey. The composition divides the image into three horizontal bands: the turbulent building at the bottom, a strip of water in the middle, and the sky above. These tonal arrangements evoke a solemn, almost melancholic mood. Maes, in his interpretation, simplifies van Goyen’s details, reducing the scene to its barest structural elements. This abstraction encourages us to see the underlying geometry—the rectangles of the buildings, the triangles of the sails. The texture, though smooth, suggests a layering that disrupts any illusion of depth, flattening the image and emphasizing its constructed nature. Consider how Maes challenges our perceptions of space and representation. The buildings are not simply depicted; they are deconstructed and re-presented, inviting a dialogue about the nature of architectural form and the act of seeing itself. In this, the work functions as a semiotic structure, wherein each element signifies not only its immediate referent but also the broader concepts of landscape, culture, and representation. It's a discourse on how we understand and categorize the world through visual signs.