Beek met schuitjes 1870 - 1931

Editor: This is "Beek met schuitjes," or "Creek with Boats," by Willem Bastiaan Tholen, likely made somewhere between 1870 and 1931. It’s a pencil drawing on paper and something about the muted tones creates this really calm feeling. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Calm, yes! I'd also say… expectant? It feels like a scene held in its breath. Tholen's sketch isn't just a record of a place, but a captured feeling. Notice how the bare trees reach skyward, mirrored subtly in the water? Are those boats waiting, do you think, or just resting? For me, a piece like this operates almost like a visual haiku, inviting us to contemplate the quiet poetry of nature. Editor: Waiting, I think, for someone to row them. Or maybe for the seasons to change. So you see a story being hinted at? Curator: Absolutely! It’s a subtle narrative, but there's something almost dreamlike about how he renders the reflections. Think of the impressionists! They too sought to capture fleeting moments and emotions through light and shadow. Tholen isn't just drawing boats; he's drawing the stillness of a moment, a pause in the day's rhythm. And maybe, within that stillness, he's hinting at our own yearnings for peace, for connection with the natural world. What is your take, do you sense the impressionistic trace, or you feel this sketch evokes something different? Editor: I guess I hadn't thought about it that deeply. Now, I can see how the fleeting reflections and sketched lines gives a bit of an ephemeral feel, linking to impressionism and focusing on the senses and feelings evoked by the moment. Curator: Exactly. A simple creek becomes a vessel for our own reflections, both literal and metaphorical. It seems Tholen asks "what will you bring to fill this stillness?" Editor: That's beautiful. Now I will go find the creek! Thanks.