Lijnen 1899 - 1920

This is a drawing called Lijnen, or Lines, by Jan Mankes. We don’t know exactly when it was made, but it features yellow lines drawn on paper. The drawing’s structure is divided into three horizontal sections. The top part is a rectangle filled with pale greens and yellows, suggesting perhaps a field. Below that, a bold yellow line runs across the page. In the bottom half, a network of irregular yellow lines creates a sense of depth, like branches of a tree against the sky. Mankes plays with perspective by flattening the picture plane, so that the background and foreground seem to merge. The lines are not just representations of objects; they're a meditation on space, form, and the act of seeing itself. These aren't perfect lines; they're shaky, reflecting the artist's hand and inviting us to contemplate the relationship between intention and execution. It is in this tension between the abstract nature of the lines and the real-world elements they evoke that Mankes invites us to discover new ways of seeing.