Sloot met knotwilgen 1877 - 1950

Barbara Elisabeth van Houten made this etching of a pollarded willow-lined ditch. I like the idea of her patiently scratching away at the metal plate, dragging that needle to create the lines, the tones, the atmosphere. I can imagine Van Houten out there in the Dutch landscape, feeling the cool damp air and the silence. Her focus is on the ordinary, but she transforms it. See the way the light falls across the water and the thicket of trees? Her marks become something truly magical. It makes me think about other artists who were drawn to the landscape, like the Barbizon School, and how they found beauty in the everyday world. Like them, Van Houten is an ongoing conversation with nature and art history, interpreting it through her own unique sensibilities. We are lucky to see her work.