Duinlandschap 1884 - 1927

Johan Antonie de Jonge sketched this landscape with graphite on paper sometime between the late 19th and early 20th century. Look at the dense, diagonal lines, and the looping, almost cloud-like shapes that fill the page. I imagine De Jonge with his sketchbook, trying to capture the essence of the dunes, not through precise detail, but through an almost frenetic energy. I feel like the artist might have been thinking about capturing the light, the way it plays across the landscape, creating these pockets of shadow and brightness. You see how the marks aren't just descriptive; they're expressive, almost vibrating with a kind of nervous excitement. It reminds me of some of the quick studies by artists like Van Gogh or even some of the abstract expressionists, where the act of drawing becomes a way of thinking and feeling. It's all about mark-making! These artists show how the process of making a painting can become a site of inquiry, for both the artist and the viewer. It's a conversation across time and space, where we're all just riffing off each other, trying to make sense of the world, one mark at a time.