Felslandschaft mit antiken Monumenten 

Franz Kobell made this landscape drawing in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century, with pen and brown ink, accented by brown wash. These materials are traditional for artists, and the effect is one of naturalism. But note how the ink and wash are used to give a sense of geological substance. Look at the textures he creates – the hard, irregular surfaces of the rocks and the softer foliage. You can almost feel the weight and density of the landscape. Think of Kobell working with his pen, building up these effects line by line, layer by layer. His labor is analogous to the very processes he is depicting: erosion, sedimentation, the slow accumulation of natural forms over time. He is using the materials of art to evoke deep time, and the enduring power of the earth itself. This reminds us that even the most apparently straightforward works of art involve time, labor, and a profound engagement with materials.