Gezicht op huizen aan de Voorstraatshaven te Dordrecht c. 1898 - 1899

Willem Witsen sketched these houses on Voorstraatshaven in Dordrecht using charcoal and pencil. Notice the omnipresent windows: they are portals, thresholds between the inner world of domesticity and the outer world of society. This motif of the window transcends time. In early Renaissance paintings, windows often frame religious figures, acting as divine spotlights. Later, during the Dutch Golden Age, windows became symbols of prosperity and global trade. The window's symbolic weight continues into modernity; consider the window in Caspar David Friedrich’s work, often representing longing and contemplation. This act of looking out, which Witsen renders here with such immediacy, captures a psychological space. We are both observers and the observed. The window is not just architectural; it is a mirror reflecting our evolving relationship with space, society, and self.