Stadhuisstraat in Schoonhoven 1900 - 1905

Wijnand Otto Jan Nieuwenkamp made this print of the Stadhuisstraat in Schoonhoven with etching. The first thing that grabs me is the intricacy of the lines; it's like he’s building this whole world with just the simplest of marks. Look at how he varies the direction and thickness of each line to create a sense of depth and texture. You can almost feel the roughness of the stone and the weight of the buildings, the etched lines really bring to life the details of the architecture, and the way he handles the light and shadow. See how the lines around the steeple become looser, more cloud-like? It reminds me a bit of Piranesi’s etchings of Rome, this kind of obsessive cataloging of the world, but with a personal, almost dreamy touch. It’s like he’s not just showing us a place, but also how he feels about it. The conversation between artists has been going on for centuries.