Dorpsgezicht met kerktoren 1870 - 1937

Leon Senf made this etching, Dorpsgezicht met kerktoren, using a painstaking process of tiny marks to create a whole world. The real magic here is how Senf turns simple lines into a dense, almost overwhelming texture. Look at the way he builds up the foliage, the brickwork of the church tower, or the jumble of objects in the foreground. It's like he's not just describing a scene, but also the feeling of being immersed in the thick of it. Each mark feels deliberate, yet the overall effect is wonderfully chaotic and alive. It’s this tension between control and letting go that makes the image so compelling. The way the artist contrasts the solid, imposing presence of the church with the bustling, almost overgrown life below reminds me of Piranesi, who, like Senf, found beauty in the tension between the monumental and the everyday.