Rivierlandschap Possibly 1906 - 1909

Editor: Here we have Willem Witsen's "Rivierlandschap," a pencil drawing on paper, likely created between 1906 and 1909. It has such a fleeting, ephemeral quality; it really captures a sense of a moment in time. What jumps out at you about this piece? Curator: What strikes me is Witsen's choice of medium. Why pencil? It speaks to the accessibility of art-making in this period. Paper and pencil were relatively inexpensive, democratizing the landscape genre, moving away from the exclusive domain of oil on canvas, owned and commissioned only by the bourgeois. Editor: That’s a fascinating point! So, are you suggesting that the choice of material reflects a shift in who could create art and who it was for? Curator: Precisely! Think about the labour involved too. A quick sketch, easily transportable, contrasts sharply with the more laborious process of traditional painting. It is a form of recording an immediate observation, capturing a specific atmosphere and light, that becomes part of Witsen's visual language. And it also allowed artists greater freedom to document their world and how they moved through it, without necessarily relying on formal commissions. Editor: It’s amazing to think about how the very act of choosing these materials could have been a quiet rebellion against artistic conventions. Curator: In a way, yes. Witsen engages with ideas about industrialization and labor simply through his method of production. Does this alter your perspective? Editor: Absolutely! I was initially focused on the image itself, but now I’m considering the socioeconomic implications of the drawing as an object. Curator: Exactly. The value isn’t just in the artistic skill, but also the story it tells about the changing art world and society at large. Editor: Thank you for opening my eyes to this. I'll never look at a simple sketch the same way again.