Gezicht op de poort van de molen Rijn en Lek te Wijk bij Duurstede Possibly 1906 - 1909

Willem Witsen made this drawing of the mill Rijn en Lek at Wijk bij Duurstede with charcoal on paper. It's so atmospheric! The paper looks almost luminous, peeking through the strokes of the charcoal. Witsen’s mark-making feels immediate, like he’s trying to capture a fleeting moment, or a feeling, rather than an exact representation. I love the contrast between the dense, almost velvety blacks and the bare paper. See how he uses these horizontal strokes to create a sense of depth, almost like the scene is dissolving into mist? It’s interesting to think about how artists like Witsen, who were working at the same time as early photography, approached landscape. Maybe he was trying to do something different, something photography couldn't yet capture. It reminds me a little of some of the drawings of Mondrian, later on, in the way that he’s abstracting from nature, reducing forms to their essence. It’s like a little visual poem, isn’t it?