Gezicht op een plein in Amsterdam, mogelijk het Leidseplein c. 1900 - 1923

George Hendrik Breitner made this drawing of a square in Amsterdam, possibly the Leidseplein, using graphite on paper. It's a quick sketch, a flurry of lines capturing the essence of the architecture. Look at the left side of the page, where the building looms. Breitner doesn't fuss over detail. Instead, he lets the graphite dance, creating a web of marks that suggest windows, walls, and the overall structure. The texture of the paper peeks through, adding to the sense of immediacy. You can almost feel his hand moving, trying to capture the fleeting impression of the scene before him. Those dark smudges around the edges give the work a certain weight, anchoring the sketch in reality, but then on the right side, the strokes are light, airy. It reminds me of some of Cy Twombly's scribbled drawings, where the process is as important as the subject. Art isn't about perfect representation, it's about the journey of making, the conversation between the artist and the world.