Duinlandschap 1884 - 1927

Johan Antonie de Jonge made this drawing with graphite on paper, and it feels like a direct transcription of looking. I imagine him with his sketchbook outside, trying to figure out how to render what he sees in front of him with only a few lines. The marks are tentative, searching, and full of revision, and this makes me feel like I’m right there with him, watching the scene unfold. There’s a section of short, vertical lines at the top, which could be some kind of plant life, and then a series of horizontal, wavy marks that suggest the contours of the dunes. But the bottom two thirds of the paper are left blank, so it’s more like a suggestion of a landscape than a complete picture. It’s interesting to see the artist’s process so bare, and it makes me wonder if this was a study for a larger work, or if it was meant to be a finished piece in itself. Either way, it’s a reminder that art is often about the act of looking and trying to understand the world around us.