Landschap, mogelijk met water 1884 - 1927

Johan Antonie de Jonge made this landscape, possibly with water, with what looks like graphite. What strikes me is how simple and direct the marks are. It’s like he's saying, "Here’s what I see, and here's how I can capture it quickly." I love the density of the marks to the left of the piece that describe this cluster of vegetation, they create a thick screen that immediately establishes a foreground and invites you to enter the piece, while further back the marks become more minimal, sketching the buildings and sky in a way that is so immediate. Think about a drawing by Guston. It's the same sensibility of trying to capture something real, but acknowledging that it's all just marks on a page. There's no attempt to hide the process, it’s right there on the surface. It's this honesty that makes the piece so engaging, it is art as a record of thinking. We see the artist thinking, and in turn, we think with him.