Jongen en meisje op het strand van Noordwijk aan Zee 1930

Otto Verhagen made this beach scene of a boy and girl in Noordwijk aan Zee, likely with colored pencils or crayons, in 1930. There's something so immediate and process-driven about working with such a simple medium. I think about the hand moving across the page, building up color with these small marks. I like the scratchiness of the colors, like the red on the girl's skirt. The texture isn't about blending or smoothness, but about layering and juxtaposition, with the white of the paper often showing through. The color palette has a kind of understated vibrancy; it makes me think of Bonnard somehow. Look at the area around their feet where the dark marks really ground them, anchoring them to the earth. It is almost as if Verhagen has built up the image from the ground up. This piece feels like a quick study, a capturing of a specific moment, in a way that reminds me of Manet, who also was interested in scenes from everyday life. What I love about this artwork is how it embraces the imperfect and the unfinished.