Houten huis met bron ervoor 1868 - 1912

Maria van Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen created this etching, "Wooden House with Fountain," with remarkable precision in lines and structure. The composition, with its stark contrasts and delicate hatching, invites us to consider the semiotic elements at play. The geometrical layout – the sharp angles of the house against the softer, organic shapes of the landscape – introduces a dialectic between the built environment and nature. Vertical lines of the wooden construction contrast with the horizontal layers of the stone fountain, which serves as a mediator between artifice and nature. This suggests a narrative around human intervention in the natural world. The graphic structure of the work challenges any romantic reading of the landscape. The way the artist uses the etching technique, scratching away to reveal depth and texture, evokes a feeling of stark realism, even of alienation. This formal approach emphasizes not just what is depicted but how it is constructed, reminding us that the image is always a carefully mediated representation of reality.