Vrouwelijk naakt c. 1906 - 1923

This sketch by George Hendrik Breitner, sitting in the Rijksmuseum, is a quick study in pencil, a simple act of looking and recording. It's like catching a thought as it flies by, light and provisional. The texture of the paper itself is part of the story here; you can see the tooth of it coming through the marks. The artist doesn't hide the process. The lines are searching, unsure, and that's what makes it feel alive. Notice the way the shading is concentrated around the figure's head. There's a density, a weight there that contrasts with the airy, almost absent lines defining the rest of the form. It makes you wonder what caught Breitner's eye, what he was really looking for. This reminds me of some of Degas’s sketches, where the line feels exploratory, like a sculptor feeling around for the form inside the stone. Ultimately, it's about seeing, about how we look and what we choose to focus on, and that's always a negotiation, a question, not an answer.