Stadsgezicht met een aangemeerde boot c. 1902 - 1914

George Hendrik Breitner made this sketch of a cityscape with an anchored boat, and it’s all about the gesture, right? That quick, on-the-spot decision-making with the pencil. I can imagine Breitner, sketchbook in hand, quickly capturing the essence of the scene before him. It’s all about the lines, some dark and assertive, others light and tentative, each one mapping out a form, a shadow, a possibility. Look at how he renders the boat’s mast – a few confident strokes that convey its height and angle with incredible economy. What’s so great about drawing is its immediacy. It allows the artist to record their fleeting impressions and half-formed ideas. This sketch feels like a visual diary entry, a snapshot of a moment in time, and it’s really cool to be able to enter into the artist's experience like that. It reminds me of other painters’ sketches, from Delacroix to Twombly, all riffing off each other across time.