Houten huizen op Marken 1916

Wijnand Otto Jan Nieuwenkamp made this print of wooden houses on Marken, probably with etching. It’s all in these delicate lines, like he’s building the houses out of thin air, one careful stroke at a time. You know, artmaking is always a process, and you can see that so clearly here. The texture is so important. It's this fine web of lines that makes up the whole scene. Look closely at the roofs – see how the lines follow the slope, giving them weight and form? And then there are these little details, like the figures in the foreground, or the windows of the houses. They're just hinted at, but they add so much to the story. The whole print is done in this warm brown tone, it gives the scene a kind of nostalgic feel, like looking at an old photograph. It reminds me a bit of Whistler, that same interest in capturing a mood, a sense of place, with just the barest of means. It's like Nieuwenkamp is inviting us to slow down, to really look and see the beauty in the everyday.