Bomen voor boerderijwoning 1892 - 1928

This etching, called Bomen voor boerderijwoning, was made by Johannes Löhr, a Dutch artist who lived in the late 19th and early 20th century. The whole scene is rendered in a monochromatic palette of brown ink, with a flurry of lines used to depict trees surrounding a farmhouse. I imagine Löhr outside, squinting, trying to capture the scene's energy as the seasons change. This artist is really going for it, layering lines upon lines to create depth, to get at the sensation of being there. The bare branches reach up like frantic scribbles, a frenetic energy contained within the small plate. I am struck by the tension between the wildness of the foliage and the domesticity of the farmhouse—like a metaphor for the human condition. There’s something very modern about the work’s moodiness that reminds me of other artists from that time. It’s like he is inviting us to pause and consider the beauty, and the melancholy, of the everyday.