Bos en bomen langs een pad 1834 - 1906

Maria Vos made this drawing of trees along a path with graphite on paper. This is a simple pairing of materials, but that’s precisely the point. The qualities of the drawing emerge directly from the way the artist works the graphite. You can see the texture of the paper, which provides a physical ground for the image, and the smudging of the graphite. The density of the marks gives an immediate sense of the forest's depth. The drawing captures a fleeting moment, yet also evokes the enduring presence of the natural world. It's worth remembering that the paper would have been made by hand, at least to some extent, and so carries an implicit reference to labor. Vos's work may seem far removed from the factory floor, but that's an illusion. By attending to materials and making, we see this artwork in its full social and historical context.