Gezicht op Zaltbommel, 1672 1900 - 1903

This panoramic view of Zaltbommel was drawn in 1672 by the frères Moreau, maybe using graphite or a similar material. It's about the size of a long, skinny shoebox. What I love about drawings like this is the sense of touch. You can imagine the hand moving across the paper, deciding what to emphasize and what to leave as a ghost. Look at how the Moreau brothers rendered the water, for instance. It's a flat plane, but there are these tiny, almost imperceptible variations in tone that suggest movement and depth. The buildings are just a series of quick, confident strokes, a kind of shorthand for architecture. It reminds me of some of Agnes Martin's minimalist grids, where the slight imperfections are what make the whole thing sing. This piece feels like a conversation with the past, a reminder that art is always evolving, always finding new ways to see and feel the world around us.