Abklatsch van een tekening c. 1910 - 1915

This is a drawing by Willem Witsen, made at an unknown date, and held at the Rijksmuseum. It’s a delicate dance of light and shadow, a ghost of an image barely there. Look closely, and you’ll see how Witsen coaxes form out of the faintest of marks. It’s like he’s whispering secrets onto the page. I love the way the surface almost disappears, dissolving into a haze of soft grays. It's hard to tell what the tools were, but the effect is of something barely touched, as if made by breath, not hand. Notice, on the right side, the way the faint lines are smudged. It's like the memory of a gesture, a trace of the artist’s hand. I love how this one mark can be so evocative. It reminds me of Whistler’s tonalist landscapes, where atmosphere reigns supreme. With Whistler too, meaning is not fixed or literal, but constantly shifting, inviting us to bring our own experiences to the work.