Drie knotwilgen langs een sloot 1872 - 1939

Egbert Rubertus Derk Schaap made this drawing of three pollard willows along a ditch with graphite on paper. The tonal range is so subtle here. I can really imagine the artist developing it slowly, gently building up the layers of graphite. What I love about a piece like this is how the material and the process are so apparent. You can see the artist thinking, reconsidering, adjusting. There's a spot just above the foreground that has these dark, scribbly lines. I see Schaap working and reworking the area, trying to find the right balance of dark and light. This piece reminds me a little of some of the drawings of Jacob van Ruisdael, who had a similar sensitivity to the landscape and to the possibilities of drawing. This isn't just a picture of three trees. It’s a whole world, and Schaap invites us to enter it.