Heuvellandschap bij Baden-Baden 1916

Carel Nicolaas Storm van 's-Gravesande made this landscape near Baden-Baden with chalk and watercolor. I love the way the colors bleed into one another creating a hazy, dreamlike atmosphere. I can imagine Storm van 's-Gravesande standing en plein air, squinting at the scene before him, trying to capture the subtle gradations of light and shadow across the rolling hills. What was he thinking as he layered those strokes of green, blue, and gray? The light! The marks are soft, almost tentative, but together they evoke a sense of depth and distance. It reminds me a little of Corot and other landscape painters who were trying to get at the feeling of a place, not just its surface appearance. It’s like all these artists are talking to each other across time, passing along a shared language of marks and colors. And in the end, it’s up to us to listen and interpret what they're saying.