Gezicht op een dorp door de bomen 1872 - 1939

Egbert Rubertus Derk Schaap made this drawing called 'View of a Village Through Trees’ with graphite. It's an all-over grey scene. I see a path, some buildings and a church steeple behind some trees. I can imagine Schaap walking along this path, stopping, and deciding to draw. He must have loved how the light fell on the scene, and the contrasts made by the dark marks of the graphite. The graphite looks smooth, dragged across the paper, a gentle layering of greys. The tones create a scene that feels both solid and ethereal. I see a conversation with tonalists like James McNeil Whistler, and maybe even the later work of Gerhard Richter. All artists building a world using greyscale and mood. Art is just one long, amazing conversation, where each artist adds their voice, a unique accent, to the collective experience.