Gezicht op Kasteel Schaesberg 1890 - 1920

This photo of Gezicht op Kasteel Schaesberg, was made without a known date by an anonymous photographer for Monumentenzorg. It's an old photo, probably predating color film, and the whole thing is rendered in shades of brown. I keep getting drawn to the horizontal lines across the castle. They are interrupted by the windows, of course, and some other details, but the horizontality of the lines dominates our perception. This really flattens the picture plane, making the castle itself feel like an abstract design as much as a real building. In a funny way, that flattening effect reminds me of Agnes Martin’s grids, though Martin’s project was about something quite different. Both artists, though, seem deeply invested in how simple marks can profoundly alter our sense of space. It’s as if the photo and the grids are holding a silent conversation across time. Art, whether photographic or painted, keeps us talking, keeps us seeing, keeps us questioning what is right in front of us.