Schelpenvisser met paard en wagen op het strand 1883 - 1922

Here we have Johanna van de Kamer’s pencil drawing of a shell fisherman with horse and wagon on the beach. It’s all about seeing how things emerge, bit by bit, from the sand. The pencil lines aren’t precious, they’re searching. Look at the wheel of the wagon, how it's suggested with broken strokes, a kind of shorthand for roundness. It’s not about perfect rendering but more about capturing the feeling of the scene. The texture of the beach is built from these fleeting lines, each one feeling like a little wave, a little movement of the sand. The fisherman, the horse, the wagon are all evoked in the same way. The whole thing reminds me of a Turner painting, all atmosphere and light, where the details are secondary to the overall impression. It’s a reminder that art doesn’t always have to be about perfection, it can be about embracing the beauty of the unfinished, the imperfect.