Rietland met bomen c. 1944 - 1990

Kees Stoop made this etching of a Dutch landscape, Rietland met bomen, at some point in his career. The whole piece is a masterful dance of line and texture. The way Stoop renders the grass in the foreground is particularly captivating; each stroke feels deliberate, creating a sense of movement, as if the wind is gently blowing through the reeds. It’s like he’s built up the image from a collection of tiny, energetic marks. Look closely and you can almost feel the roughness of the paper contrasting with the velvety ink. Stoop’s work reminds me a bit of some of the landscape etchings of Hercules Segers, that same attention to the atmospheric quality of the land. But where Segers is otherworldly, Stoop is firmly rooted in the here and now, capturing the quiet beauty of the everyday. Art isn't about answers, it's about keeping the conversation flowing, one line at a time.