Boomstudie 1904

Coba Steenhoff made this tree study, in what looks like pencil or charcoal. I'm immediately drawn to the artist's mark-making. These lines; tentative, probing, confident in places, and fading in others. You get the sense of the artist circling the subject, unsure of where exactly to land. It reminds me of my own process, that dance of looking and responding, trying to capture something fleeting and alive. And those erasures! Those ghost lines. I sympathize with the artist's struggle to nail down the essence of the tree, its structure, its reaching branches. Did they, like me, stand back, squint, and then dive back in, armed with a fresh perspective and a renewed sense of purpose? Ultimately, this work reminds us that we are all in conversation with those who came before us, building upon their insights and discoveries.