Schuiten in 't IJ in Amsterdam c. 1910 - 1911

This etching titled 'Schuiten in 't IJ in Amsterdam' was created by Willem Witsen. Look at the subtle gradations of color, from the muted browns of the water to the pale grays of the sky – it’s as if Witsen is trying to capture the very essence of a fleeting moment in time. I can almost imagine him standing by the riverbank, his eyes scanning the scene, trying to decide how to translate it into a language of marks and lines. The scene seems both realistic and dreamlike at the same time. What was Witsen thinking? What does the scene represent for him? The solitude, perhaps, the stillness of the water... Or is it maybe about the connection between the city and the water? In some ways, artists are always in dialogue with one another, building upon what came before and pushing things forward. The way the artist captured the light and the atmosphere makes me think of other artists such as Whistler.