Watermolen bij Voorst c. 1900 - 1930

This photogravure, "Watermolen bij Voorst," was made by Richard Tepe sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. Look at the way the water churns! I wonder what Tepe was thinking when he decided to capture this scene. The way the light plays on the water's surface, almost blurring into the textures of the mill itself, has a certain charm to it. I can almost feel the dampness in the air, the quiet hum of the water wheel doing its thing. It reminds me of some of the landscapes I've tried to capture in paint - that feeling of a world humming quietly along. It's a scene from the past, but it still feels so alive. Tepe might have been responding to the Barbizon School or the Hague School, with its turn to the local and the everyday. Artists keep looking and responding to one another, across time. And that's what keeps art - and our vision - evolving.