Gezicht op Tószeg 1928

Albert van Giffen made this small drawing of Gezicht op Tószeg with graphite on paper. It’s a quick, on-the-spot rendering of a distant village. I can imagine Van Giffen with his pad and pencil, standing somewhere in the landscape, quickly trying to capture the essentials of the place. It’s like a visual note, a way of fixing a memory. It also reminds me of the idea of ‘first thought, best thought’. The pencil scratches across the paper, and it just flows. There’s a certain lightness to it. A single line defines the horizon, and then there are these little clusters of marks that suggest houses, a church spire, some trees. All of the marks together evoke a sense of place. You might be able to find yourself in there, too. This sketch seems to be an exercise of free association, where lines aren’t just lines; they are carriers of memory and feeling. It's so immediate, you can almost feel the artist breathing.