Landschap met onweerslucht 1919

Adriaan van 't Hoff made this etching, Landschap met onweerslucht, around 1913. Look closely and you'll see that it is all about the lines. The density and direction of those lines create this wonderfully moody landscape. I love how the sky is built up with these scratchy marks. The artist is not trying to fool you into thinking this is a photorealistic depiction of a storm, it’s all about the process of mark-making. See how the artist uses the etched line to give the impression of the wind. Van 't Hoff was working at the same time as many of the German Expressionist printmakers such as Emil Nolde and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. These artists were using the expressive potential of printmaking techniques to convey a sense of emotional turmoil and spiritual unease. Art is all about an ongoing exchange of ideas and images, isn’t it?