Gezicht op een gracht of vaart 1900 - 1940

This is a small sepia print by G. Hidderley, showing a canal receding into the distance, flanked by bare trees. I can imagine Hidderley’s delight in setting up his camera, maybe adjusting the focus, considering the light, thinking about composition. I feel a kinship with the artist, even though the way he made this image is totally different from my own painting practice. He’s thinking about form and space, and those dark, muted tones feel loaded with feeling and emotion. There's a stillness to the scene, but also movement in the way the water flows and the branches reach. The composition is so important: the artist's placement of that canal dividing the picture plane draws my eye into the distance. And maybe, in that distance, there's a connection to the whole history of landscape painting. The artist is in conversation with other artists and inviting us to join in.