Gezicht op een smalle straat in Amsterdam 1908

George Hendrik Breitner made this sketch of a narrow Amsterdam street with charcoal. It's all about gesture, capturing the essence of a place with the fewest marks possible. Look at how he uses these quick, broken lines to suggest the buildings. It’s like he’s not trying to copy reality, but to grab its feeling, its energy. The texture of the charcoal on the paper gives it this raw, immediate quality, like a note jotted down in a hurry. See the two figures at the end of the street? They are just a few scribbles, but they totally anchor the scene. This reminds me a bit of some of Manet's sketches - that same focus on capturing a fleeting moment. It tells you something about art, it's not always about the finished product, but about the process, the looking, and the thinking.