Onkruid c. 1944 - 1990

Kees Stoop made this small etching, "Onkruid," using delicate lines and an eye for the unruly. Imagine him, bent close to the plate, meticulously incising each blade of grass. I wonder, did he feel a kinship with these overlooked plants? The density of marks creates a palpable texture, a kind of visual thicket you could almost get lost in. See how the lines vary in weight and direction? There's a rhythm here, a kind of controlled chaos that speaks to the vitality of the natural world. It reminds me a little of Dürer's obsessive studies of nature, but with a more modern sensibility. "Onkruid," or "weeds", captures the beauty in the overlooked. Stoop invites us to reconsider our relationship with nature, to find beauty in the unexpected corners of the world. It's a quiet rebellion, a celebration of the wild and untamed. Artists like Stoop are in constant conversation with one another, across time.