Schelpenvisser met paard en wagen op het strand 1883 - 1922

Here's a drawing by Johanna van de Kamer, depicting a shell fisherman with a horse and wagon on the beach, probably made with graphite on paper. Looking at this, I imagine Van de Kamer braving the elements, trying to capture the scene before her – the vastness of the beach, the low, heavy sky, the fisherman and his horse, dwarfed by the landscape. Maybe she was thinking about how the lines of the horse’s harness echo those of the waves, or the way the fisherman’s stooped posture mirrors the curve of the horizon. The marks are so spare, so economical, yet they convey so much. There’s a vulnerability in the fragility of the lines that is really human. I feel a connection to her, to her experience of being in that place, at that time. There's an ongoing conversation between artists across time, inspiring each other’s creativity. I wonder who was looking at Van de Kamer when she was making this, and I wonder who will be looking at me?