Gezicht op een straat bij maanlicht Possibly 1907 - 1911

George Hendrik Breitner made this pencil drawing, "Gezicht op een straat bij maanlicht," which translates to "View of a street by moonlight," and looking at it, you can see him shifting and searching to discover a sense of place, a feeling of night. Imagine Breitner out there, charcoal or pencil in hand, trying to capture the mood of the street under the moon's glow. The marks are so immediate, so provisional. I can feel his hand moving, deciding, hesitating. There's this lovely, almost abstract quality to it, like he's more interested in the shadows and the way the light falls than in getting all the details right. It's like he’s wrestling with the image, trying to pin down something elusive. It reminds me of some of the quick studies that painters like Van Gogh or Käthe Kollwitz would do, these artists were all in their own ways trying to grab something raw and real. It's less about the perfect picture, and more about that moment of seeing, of trying to understand.