Rivierlandschap met molens 1919 - 1921

Willem Cornelis Rip made this river landscape with windmills using pencil, giving us a glimpse into a world rendered through delicate, almost tentative marks. The texture here is everything. It's all about the surface, the way the pencil drags and catches on the paper. Look at how Rip builds up the landscape with these tiny, frantic strokes. It's like he's mapping the world, not just representing it. The windmills themselves are these skeletal structures, almost dissolving into the sky. Then there's the water, suggested with these soft, blurry lines. You can almost feel the humidity in the air, the stillness of the water. This isn't about capturing a specific scene, it's about evoking a feeling, a mood. It reminds me of James McNeill Whistler's atmospheric studies, where the line between seeing and feeling blurs. It's all about the process, the act of looking, and how that transforms into art.