Landschap c. 1914s

This graphite sketch, Landschap, by George Hendrik Breitner, feels like a fleeting moment captured on paper. You can almost see Breitner standing there, charcoal in hand, quickly trying to catch the essence of the landscape before the light changes or the feeling fades. The marks are so raw and immediate, aren't they? Like a shorthand for trees, fields, and sky. I imagine him squinting, simplifying the scene into these essential lines. There’s a real energy in the way the lines are dashed across the paper, a sense of urgency and purpose. It reminds me of some of Constable’s cloud studies, or even some of Cy Twombly’s more gestural drawings. You know, that idea of finding a kind of abstract poetry in the everyday. It's like Breitner is saying, "Here, look at this ordinary scene, but really *see* it, feel it, experience it." That's what mark-making can do: make a space for seeing.