Landschap 1909

This landscape drawing by Johan Antonie de Jonge looks like it was made en plein air, maybe with charcoal. I like to imagine the artist standing outside, squinting in the sun. There's something melancholic about the scene. Is it a storm coming in? Or just a trick of the light? I wonder if he was thinking about the Dutch Masters like Jacob van Ruisdael? The heavy sky, the flat land, you know. What I find interesting is that the bottom half is left relatively empty, as if the artist wanted to focus on the horizon line. The marks are loose, gestural, almost like shorthand for what's there. It reminds us that painting isn't about representation; it’s about feeling, about capturing a fleeting moment. We keep looking and keep trying, just like all artists.