Staande figuren 1910

George Hendrik Breitner made this sketch of standing figures with graphite on paper, and it's all about the art of seeing, right? The immediacy of the marks here – they tell you that this was about the process of looking. The graphite is dry and scratchy. It's used to create an array of quick, broken lines, almost like shorthand for the human form. It's interesting to see how certain elements are more defined than others. Look at the head of the figure on the right – the hat is so carefully rendered, compared to the rest of the body. This contrast draws my attention and makes me question what the artist was most interested in capturing. Is it the overall impression, or the specific details? Breitner's sketch reminds me a bit of Daumier’s drawings – that similar sense of capturing the everyday hustle. Both artists embrace the beauty of the unfinished and the imperfect. Ultimately, this piece is a reminder that art is an ongoing experiment, full of questions and possibilities.