Landschap met bomen 1919

Reijer Stolk made this landscape with trees with pen on paper, sometime before 1945. It’s a drawing, but it's got a lot to say about mark-making as a process. Look at the variety of marks on the page, some are short and stubby, some are long and thin. It is as if he is thinking aloud with his pen. I love how the tops of the trees almost drip down the page like a curtain, creating a dense wall of foliage. Stolk’s drawing is a reminder that art isn’t just about making something beautiful, it’s about thinking, feeling, and working through ideas. I’m reminded of Philip Guston's late work, which also embraces a kind of raw, unfiltered expression. Both artists remind us that art is an ongoing conversation, a dialogue between the artist and the world. What do you think they are trying to tell each other?