Meisje bij een kerk 1925

This etching, ‘Meisje bij een kerk’ by Jo Bezaan, is a moody landscape rendered in subtle tones of grey. Looking at it, I can almost feel Bezaan delicately scratching away at the plate, building up this atmospheric scene bit by bit. The little girl in front of the church is so interesting. I wonder what she is thinking. Did Bezaan know her? Did she watch her draw the church? Or did she make her up? And, actually, I wonder about that church too. What was Bezaan thinking when she added the trees that kind of merge into it? Did she just want to obscure it a bit, or did she not know how to draw trees? These decisions make you wonder, and that is so exciting. Painters are constantly responding to one another across time, and she reminds me a bit of Paula Modersohn-Becker's work. But this piece could never be mistaken for anyone other than Jo Bezaan.