Boot op een rivier 1905

Willem Cornelis Rip made this tiny pencil drawing, "Boat on a River," and it's so simple, so immediate. It’s like a fleeting thought captured on paper. Look at the way he’s used these minimal marks to suggest form. It is reduced right down, like a memory of a boat, using just a few lines. It’s a light touch, a whisper of graphite that creates a sense of space and atmosphere. The river seems to flow with the page, the boat floats on a ripple of horizon. It reminds me of the early sketches of James McNeill Whistler. Both artists share a similar interest in capturing the essence of a scene with a minimal amount of detail, focusing on tonal values and atmospheric effects. This work embraces ambiguity, and asks us to consider the possibilities suggested by a space, rather than defining it.