Rots aan het water 1919

Léon Spilliaert made this drawing with colored pencil, and you can really see the process, the build up of tiny marks making these huge forms of rock, water and sky. Up close, the texture is really interesting - the way he's layered the colors to create depth and atmosphere. Look at the bottom left, the scrubby undergrowth achieved through intense hatching. There's a kind of shimmering quality, that comes from these delicate marks, making you feel the cool of the evening. It's interesting to see how Spilliaert varies the mark to describe the different materials of the landscape - there is the scumbled greys of the rocks, set against the horizontal strokes of the water. Spilliaert’s like a Belgian Munch, but maybe Agnes Martin is a good reference point here too – that investment in the subtle, the power of suggestion over description. Art is all about these echoes and conversations, right?