Toren van de Walfriduskerk te Bedum 1911

This photograph, "Toren van de Walfriduskerk te Bedum" depicts a stone church captured by an anonymous photographer for Monumentenzorg. The subdued sepia tones create an atmosphere that feels both historical and immediate. I imagine the photographer carefully selecting the vantage point, waiting for the perfect light to capture the texture and presence of the stone. The slight blur of the leaves suggests a gentle breeze, a reminder of the physical world that painting also evokes. You can almost feel the weight of the tower, the patient accumulation of layers and time. The way the light hits the sides of the buildings, the rough-hewn stones, and the way the tower dominates the space—it reminds me of the way Cy Twombly built up surfaces with paint and scribbles, creating these monuments to time and touch. It’s a conversation across mediums, this shared interest in surface, texture, and the way things come into being. That’s what art is, really—a bunch of people talking to each other, across years and materials.