Rijnoever bij Vianen 1934 - 1937

Otto Verhagen made this drawing of the Rijnoever at Vianen in graphite, sketching swiftly on the page. You can feel the quickness of the hand, the artist making a record of the scene before him. I like to imagine Otto standing there by the riverbank, squinting in the sunlight, rapidly capturing the likeness of the water, trees, and distant land, all rendered in subtle, tonal gradations of grey. Look at the marks of the pencil, layered and hatching to create depth and shadow; and see where the artist has rendered the reflections in the water with vertical strokes, conjuring a sense of movement and shimmering light. I can relate to that feeling of wanting to quickly get something down, something seen or felt, just as a reminder. This piece is more than just a drawing, it’s an index of a moment, an observation, a notation, and is like many artists, Otto is contributing to an ongoing conversation, in which each of us can take part.