Studie, mogelijk van een gezicht in Amsterdam c. 1886 - 1923

This is George Hendrik Breitner's study, possibly of a face in Amsterdam. He made it with graphite on paper. Looking at this sketch makes me feel like I'm looking at the artist thinking. See how the lines are light and provisional, as if he's not sure what he's seeing, or what he wants to keep. Maybe this is a kind of note taking, but instead of writing words, he's drawing. I wonder if he was trying to capture a feeling or an idea, more than a literal likeness. Breitner was part of a generation that was reinventing painting, finding new ways to represent modern life. This sketch is a fragment, a fleeting impression. It reminds me that art isn't about perfect representation, it's about the messy, human process of trying to make sense of the world.