Huis in een heuvellandschap Possibly 1908

Alexander Shilling made this drawing, *Huis in een heuvellandschap*, with graphite no date given - a quick sketch in a landscape, all about capturing a feeling, a moment. Look at the side of the hill, and how Shilling scribbled the pencil back and forth. You can almost feel the pressure of the artist’s hand, and the texture of the graphite against the page. Then, he leaves other parts untouched, like the sky. What’s so great about this drawing is how the artist is just feeling his way around the paper, building up this atmosphere with simple marks. The composition feels reminiscent of some of Van Gogh’s sketches, especially in the way Shilling uses line to describe form and space, yet its rawness and immediacy also speak to a more modern sensibility - a kind of casualness that embraces the unfinished and provisional aspects of the work. Art doesn’t always have to be so serious; it can be about the joy of seeing and making.