Studie c. 1887 - 1891

Editor: We’re looking at "Studie," a graphite drawing on paper, made by Willem Witsen around 1887 to 1891, held at the Rijksmuseum. There's something ghostly about it – vague lines suggesting a landscape, maybe? What do you see in this piece? Curator: Ghostly is a good word for it. It feels like a memory struggling to surface. What intrigues me is how little is actually *there*. Witsen is known for his evocative depictions of Amsterdam, often shrouded in mist or rain. Perhaps this is an early attempt, a whisper of a landscape forming in his mind? Editor: So it’s less about the precise image, and more about the feeling it evokes? Curator: Precisely! Think about the Impressionists, capturing fleeting moments of light. Witsen shares that sensibility, but distills it even further. What’s left is pure atmosphere, a suggestion of place. It reminds me of half-remembered dreams – vivid, yet just beyond reach. It also speaks to the creative process itself, the messy, incomplete sketches that pave the way to a finished piece. Do you get that sense of transience, too? Editor: Definitely. It's like a visual haiku – so much said with so little. Curator: I love that – a visual haiku. And in its incompleteness, it invites *us* to complete it, to bring our own experiences and interpretations to the scene. It’s a collaboration across time, between artist and viewer. Editor: That's a beautiful way to put it. I'll never look at sketches the same way again. Curator: And perhaps, that’s the magic of a “Studie” – not a finished product, but an invitation to wander and wonder.