Kaart van Gelderland, 1940 c. 1947

Studio Certo made this map of Gelderland in 1940, from cartographic data and published it in Amsterdam. Can you imagine the focus it must have taken to create this by hand? I look at it and can't help but think about those little sailboats moving across the water, which are maybe meant to be symbols of Gelderland's maritime history. And what did the area look like at that time? Did the artist have to travel there to find out? The amount of detail is impressive. Look at the compass rose. You can almost see the hand of the cartographer moving precisely around the circle, plotting the direction. The earthy greens and browns, and the light blues – not too dissimilar to other cartographers’ works, but unique to the artist's touch. It’s almost as if the artist is trying to give Gelderland a personality, and it feels like a conversation between themself, the land, and all of us who look at this now. And that's what art is all about, isn't it?