Heuvellandschap 1885 - 1931

This is Willem Bastiaan Tholen’s ‘Heuvellandschap’, a landscape drawing of unknown date, housed at the Rijksmuseum. The drawing is all about mark making and process. See how Tholen uses simple, quick lines to capture the essence of the hills and sky. It’s like he’s sketching his thoughts directly onto the page. I love that the sketch is across a double page of what looks like a sketch book, as if he just pulled it out and started drawing what he saw in front of him. Look at the texture he creates just by varying the pressure of his pencil. It’s fascinating how a few scribbles can suggest so much depth and atmosphere. The marks are raw, immediate, like automatic writing, full of energy and potential, like Cy Twombly. It reminds us that art is an ongoing conversation and exchange of ideas, always open to new interpretations.