Dennenbomen in duinlandschap 1867 - 1935

Maurits van der Valk made this piece, Dennenbomen in duinlandschap, or Pine Trees in a Dune Landscape, using etching. It looks like he built up the image through layers of very fine lines, the density of the marks creating darker tones and the absence of marks creating light. The whole thing feels light and airy. I love the texture of the landscape! It is a field of short marks and tiny dashes, like the impression of the wind blowing across the dunes. Look at the way the trees are defined by these same marks. See how he uses the etching to describe the rough texture of the bark, but also to define the volume and form of the trunk? This piece reminds me of the work of Hercules Segers, who was another etcher working in the Netherlands centuries before. Like Segers, Van der Valk finds new ways to make the landscape seem immediate, tangible, and also deeply mysterious. What do you think?