Sloot c. 1944 - 1990

Kees Stoop made this small etching called 'Sloot,' sometime in the twentieth century. You can almost feel the artist's breath on the metal plate as he scratched these lines into it. I imagine Stoop hunched over his work, his eyes squinting at the metal, trying to coax the image out of it. Look how he used the burin to carve out the trees in the background, like a dark curtain. The drypoint lines in the foreground create a rhythm, like musical notes on a page. I feel like he's captured a moment of stillness, a quiet winter scene. It reminds me of other landscape artists, like Hercules Segers, who were also interested in the subtle nuances of light and shadow. Artists, right? Always in dialogue with each other. Ultimately, this print feels like a deeply personal expression, an exploration of the artist's inner world. And it speaks to the way we all find meaning and beauty in the everyday.