Kalenderblad december met twee vogels 1901

This is a calendar page for December with two birds, made by Theo van Hoytema, but I don't know when. It's the kind of piece where you can see the process, you can almost feel the artist working. There's a real sensitivity in the way the marks build up the image, not just describing the birds but creating a mood, a sense of winter stillness, the quiet you get after the first snow. The birds themselves are so solid and tactile, you can see the feathery textures. The artist really gets how to make a tonal image with limited hues - a lovely range of greys. The more I look the more I see, the branches, the snow clinging to the branches, they all contribute to the composition, which is beautiful. I am reminded of Odilon Redon, especially in the way he used lithography. It's about embracing the ambiguity and the subtle shifts in tone that can evoke so much.