Gezicht op de Slatuinen in Amsterdam 1892 - 1928

Johannes Löhr made this small etching, Gezicht op de Slatuinen in Amsterdam, using metal and acid, probably sometime in the early 20th century. It has this incredible layering of textures, hatched lines that build up to create depth. It’s all process, right? You can see every step, the artist's hand so clearly. The landscape is just a weave of marks, some darker, some lighter. Look at the sky, how the clouds are formed with these tiny, nervous lines, it’s almost vibrating. That cluster of marks suggesting a tree on the right feels really solid, but when you look close, it's just another collection of scratches. It’s all about suggestion, you know? Like the way Philip Guston used to build his forms out of simple marks, Löhr uses this method to construct an entire world. It’s a quiet conversation about how we see, and what it means to make something from almost nothing.