Vrouw lopend over kiezels before 2002

This work by Aat Verhoog, called *Vrouw lopend over kiezels,* or Woman Walking on Pebbles, is at the Rijksmuseum. It’s a hazy, pale, evocative, scene. I can imagine Verhoog really relishing making the mark on the canvas again and again to evoke the pebbled ground. Almost pointillist. He must have got into a trance to create that expanse of tiny marks! He’s found the sweet spot between representation and abstraction, inviting the viewer to piece together the scene, to feel the imagined space. I love the woman's clothing; a brown ochre combination. It speaks of simplicity. Her gesture suggests movement, a dance with the stones beneath her feet. She feels like she's in motion between the earth and the sky. It makes me think of other paintings that play with mark-making and movement and rhythm - artists are always in dialogue with one another. I love how painting invites us to consider the possibilities of seeing and feeling.