Annotaties 1907 - 1909

This page of annotations was made by George Hendrik Breitner, at an unknown date, with some form of drawing implement and paper. Immediately, what grabs me is the off-white of the page, it's got this aged feeling like old newsprint. There's something deeply intimate about seeing an artist's notes, like we're getting a peek into their brain. The scribbled text and the few little sketches feel so immediate. It’s like he’s thinking out loud on paper. I’m drawn to the tiny, almost hieroglyphic marks. There is one that almost looks like a skinny tree or maybe a wonky architectural element? That little mark has a life of its own, a kind of stubborn presence amidst all the words. It reminds me of Cy Twombly’s notebooks, that sense of art as this ongoing conversation with oneself, full of false starts and half-formed ideas. Art isn't about perfect answers, it's about embracing the messy, the unresolved, the sheer joy of thinking and seeing.