Landschap met bomen 1865 - 1913

Curator: This is Bramine Hubrecht's "Landschap met bomen," created sometime between 1865 and 1913. It’s a landscape drawing rendered with what appears to be a combination of watercolor and other media on paper. The piece is currently held in the Rijksmuseum. Editor: Stark. My immediate impression is one of stark contrast, almost theatrical. The silhouette effect creates a dramatic tension. Curator: Indeed. Hubrecht masterfully utilizes the monochrome palette. The solid blacks and the stark white of the paper emphasize form and create depth. The composition leads the eye, beginning with the mass of trees below. We then travel along the curving line of the bending tree. Its branch almost suggests a beckoning gesture, guiding us beyond. Editor: I'm also struck by what isn’t shown. The materiality is very interesting; you can see layered scraps of different types of paper and card, suggesting collage, assemblage and construction as important acts. One can even see how they appear physically held in place, but perhaps this adds another layer of context when thinking of landscape – the role of materials themselves found on land and the processes that convert materials into art, such as graphite pencils or watercolors made with locally-foraged berries or charcoal. The labor that makes this “landschap” might tell its own story. Curator: It is rather poetic to think of the materials as a kind of 'material landscape'. Considering that, the artist is foregrounding nature itself as subject in combination with its conversion and re-presentation. The semiotic effect suggests that what appears 'missing' in color is abundant within its formal relations and context. Editor: And this was during a period where art increasingly intersected with industry, commodification and labor conditions; even a 'simple' landscape encapsulates very complex social and economical conditions, which are echoed by the 'layering' processes of its creation. Curator: An interesting connection, reflecting art’s simultaneous dance between the objective, the material, and the conceptual. Thank you for pointing out the material complexities. Editor: And thank you for clarifying the artistic nuances in Hubrecht's skillful use of formal arrangements! It really pulls together the context, doesn't it?