In de schaduw 1975

Harrie Gerritz made this etching called "In de schaduw" - In the Shadow - using a reductive palette of greys and golds. Imagine Gerritz moving the etching needle across the plate, mapping out the contours of the tree. It feels both playful and considered. I'm really drawn to the tree with its quirky golden fruit, a touch of Fauvism perhaps? But then, the solid, grounded cow, its black fur roughly textured, is the real showstopper. The other cow is almost not there, like a ghost. I can imagine Gerritz, somewhere in the Dutch countryside, making a quick sketch from life and then developing it in the studio. The bareness of the composition and the thinness of the lines remind me of work by Cy Twombly. There is a shared interest in using minimal marks to create a sense of space and atmosphere. Ultimately, all artists are magpies, taking inspiration from the world around them and the art that has come before.