Winteravond in Ede

During the nineties of the previous century Willem Witsen and his wife Betsy van Vloten lived a secluded and somewhat solitary life in the village of Ede: 'heerlijk alleen op een kleine villa./../.afgezonderd van andere huizen' (Erens, 1958, p. 246). It was during this so-called Ede period that the artist produced a series of paintings, watercolours, drawings and etchings depicting the vast and unspoilt surroundings of the Gelderland countryside. (see W. Loos a.o., Langs Velden en Wegen, Amsterdam 1997, pp. 324-325) Witsen, who in his oeuvre displays an obvious preference for snow-covered landscapes and townviews, has with this lot strikingly captured the stillness of a wintersday with the sun setting on the scattered farmhouses.