Huis in een heuvellandschap Possibly 1908

Alexander Shilling made this drawing, "Huis in een heuvellandschap," with graphite, probably en plein air, to capture a particular view or moment. The thing about drawing is that it slows you down, makes you really look. Shilling’s made very deliberate, almost architectural marks to construct this house. The scratchy, oblique marks create a sense of depth in the landscape, while the vertical lines of the trees are like repeated attempts at the same thing. I wonder if Shilling was trying to capture the essence of the place? The beauty of drawing lies in its immediacy and its capacity for expressing an intimate connection between the artist and their subject. We see this in the work of artists like Guston and Menzel, who imbue their drawings with such emotional and intellectual intensity. Through these drawings, they invite us to see the world through their eyes.