Grote Kerk te Vianen 1849 - 1895

Willem Koekkoek sketched the Grote Kerk te Vianen in graphite, using lines to capture its form. The artist, choosing a sketchbook over canvas, signals a departure from traditional fine art. The sketch is made with graphite, a readily available material in the 19th century, and a tool associated with preliminary work rather than finished pieces. The use of line work emphasizes the structure of the church, and the artist captured details such as the gothic windows and roof tiles. The sketchbook format invites viewers to appreciate the immediacy of the artist's hand and thought process, revealing the labor involved in translating a three-dimensional structure into a two-dimensional drawing. By focusing on materials and processes, we appreciate the ways in which the artist broke away from convention, challenging the divide between fine art and craft.