Snowy Landscape With Ditch 1913

Jan Mankes made this landscape painting of a snowy ditch with oil on canvas. The colors are so muted, with shades of white and grey softly defining the scene. I love how the subtle variations in tone create a sense of depth and stillness; it feels like a meditative space. Looking closer, you can see how Mankes built up the surface with delicate layers of paint. There are areas where the brushstrokes are more visible and others where the paint is blended to create a smooth surface, particularly in the ditch, where you can almost feel the coolness of the water. The small flock of birds in the sky is rendered with simple, dark strokes, creating a sense of movement against the stillness. It reminds me a little of Agnes Martin's quiet abstraction, with its focus on subtle variations of tone. There's a real sense of poetry in the way Mankes captured the mood of a winter day.