Woodland Interior

Like many of Jan Lievens’ finest works, Woodland Interior is a finished drawing on Japanese paper. This paper, very smooth and warm in tone, tends to hold ink on the surface, which makes it slow to dry and thus not suitable for working outdoors. We therefore know that this work was executed in the studio, a fact confirmed by the restrained, structured design. In this depiction of the interior of the public woods near The Hague, the broad and fluid line is characteristic of the reed pen that the artist used.