Bomen 1890 - 1946

Curator: We’re now looking at a pencil drawing entitled "Bomen", or "Trees" in English, by Cornelis Vreedenburgh, likely created sometime between 1890 and 1946. It resides here in the Rijksmuseum collection. Editor: The immediate impression is of delicacy. The lightness of the pencil strokes and the vast empty space surrounding the trees create a very fragile mood. It feels like a memory more than a landscape. Curator: Indeed. Vreedenburgh, while working largely outside of established art groups, often depicted landscapes, especially scenes within the Netherlands. One might consider how urbanization and industrial expansion influenced artists like him, to render quiet, natural landscapes as places of refuge or nostalgic longing. Editor: I'm intrigued by the density of the lines in the tree clusters. There's almost a calligraphic quality to the mark-making. The tonal variations he achieves with just a pencil are remarkable—look how he builds depth using only layered, scribbled lines. Curator: His stylistic interpretation of Impressionism is certainly distinctive. His chosen subjects were often reflective of a nation seeking definition and reassurance, through idealized natural landscapes. His art spoke to broader societal attitudes, using landscapes as almost pastoral representations. Editor: You’re right. Although at first the composition seems unbalanced due to the placement of the trees on one side, in that formal relationship a very interesting asymmetrical tension arises that makes one concentrate on the materiality of the pencil against the off-white background. Curator: So, perhaps not simply a scene of "trees", but something evoking stability and an appeal to Dutch roots during a period of dramatic societal shifts. Editor: Yes, or an invitation, formally speaking, to consider how line and texture contribute to the experience of stillness. It is truly inspiring to observe his capacity for doing so much with what initially appears to be very little.