Nieuwe Kerk te Amsterdam, gezien vanaf de Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal Possibly 1907 - 1911

This drawing of the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam, by George Hendrik Breitner, is all about the energy of line. Breitner is really thinking through drawing here, not just making a picture. Look at how the graphite is layered, a tangled web of marks that construct the buildings. The lines are raw and immediate, almost as if he’s wrestling with the subject. Nothing is too precious; you can see erasures and corrections. It's a real stream-of-consciousness kind of drawing. There’s a particularly juicy cluster of lines that describe the church’s facade. It's like he’s trying to capture the weight and texture of the stone with the quick flicks of his wrist. The negative space is just as important as the lines themselves, giving the sketch air and a sense of unfinished potential. I’m reminded of Cezanne, who also drew with such probing intensity. It's this kind of open, searching quality that makes art so alive.