Dorpsgezicht 1907

Alexander Shilling made this landscape drawing, *Dorpsgezicht*, in pencil, and from the annotation in the bottom left, we know it was July 24, 1907. The marks here are soft, blurred, and very, very gentle. In the sky, they almost evoke the smudging you see from Gerhard Richter; he's not going for clarity, but instead creating a sensation of atmosphere. The lines of the trees march forward, evenly spaced and precise, until, in the distance, they blend into the land and buildings. That church spire is also so faint, you could almost miss it. The pencil work gives it a feeling of transience. This is a record of a moment, drawn with humility, and the kind of work that reminds you to look carefully at the world.