Gezicht op de Zuidkolk te Delft 1907

Willem Cornelis Rip made this pencil drawing of the Zuidkolk in Delft sometime around the turn of the last century. Just imagine him outside with his sketchbook, trying to capture the light on the water. I love how the soft pencil strokes create a hazy atmosphere. It is a calm day and Rip has found a nice spot from which to look out on the scene. There’s a windmill on the left and boats on the right. You can feel the breeze in the sails and the reflections on the water. I think of other landscape artists, like Corot or the Impressionists, trying to capture fleeting moments. Each artist brings their own sensibility, a unique way of seeing and feeling the world. We are all in this big conversation, you know, riffing off each other, trying to make sense of things. And that, for me, is what art is all about.