Studies van planten en vruchten 1876 - 1951

Theo Nieuwenhuis made this study of plants and fruits on paper using graphite. It's such a casual dance of marks, isn’t it? You get the sense of the artist feeling around for the forms, letting the pencil wander and find its way. It speaks to me about the simple joy of looking. Look at the way Nieuwenhuis renders the leaves, especially those on the lower right. They're not trying to trick you into thinking they're real, they are more like notations. I love the shorthand, the way the artist suggests volume and texture with a few scribbled lines. There is a real sensitivity to the different weights of the lines, some barely there, others darker and more assertive. For me, that push and pull of dark and light is what brings the drawing to life. Nieuwenhuis reminds me a little of Alfred Kubin, another artist who used a similarly limited palette to create a whole world of feeling. I think art is fundamentally about that conversation, that shared language of marks and gestures that connects us across time.