Gezicht op Orsoy, 1672 1900 - 1903

This very long, wide drawing, *Gezicht op Orsoy*, was made in 1672 by the Moreau brothers. It's a cityscape drawn in pen, so it's all about line and tone, the push and pull between light and shadow. The piece is all about the surface, you know? The way the ink sits on the page, how it bleeds or feathers out. Look closely, and you'll see how the brothers use different kinds of marks to suggest texture and depth. There are tiny, nervous lines for the distant buildings, and bolder, more confident strokes for the trees in the foreground. I am interested in the delicate balance between control and chance that the artists manage to achieve. It makes me think of someone like Vija Celmins, with her obsessive attention to detail, but also Canaletto, who was doing his thing at a similar time. Like them, the Moreau brothers see art as a record of observation, an ongoing dialogue between seeing and knowing. And, like all great art, this drawing leaves plenty of room for interpretation.