Amsterdams straatbeeld 1870 - 1923

Editor: So, this is "Amsterdams straatbeeld" – that's "Amsterdam Street View"– by Willem Witsen, dated somewhere between 1870 and 1923. It's a pencil and pen drawing on toned paper, housed here at the Rijksmuseum. There’s a quiet stillness about it, even though it depicts a busy canal side. What draws your eye, what’s your initial take? Curator: Well, my dear editor, this sketch, it whispers rather than shouts, doesn’t it? I feel as if I've stumbled upon a private moment, a secret page ripped from Witsen’s personal sketchbook. The lines, quick and assured, create an illusion of bustling life, but somehow suspended, almost like figures caught mid-breath. Doesn't it strike you as slightly melancholic? I wonder, was Witsen feeling reflective that day by the canal? Or perhaps he just wanted to capture the essence of Amsterdam with his favorite mechanical pen? Editor: I see what you mean about the melancholic feel, but is that just because it’s a sketch, and not a finished painting? Do you think the “sketchiness” adds to the mood? Curator: Precisely! The incomplete nature invites our own imaginations to fill in the gaps. Look how he suggests reflections in the water with just a few strokes, how the figures are defined just enough to evoke a presence without overwhelming detail. This, to me, feels like memory itself – fragmented, evocative, and deeply personal. What stories do *you* imagine playing out here, by the canal? Editor: It makes me think about what life was like back then. Were kids always allowed to just hang out on stoops? What kind of stories do you think Witsen was trying to tell? Curator: Perhaps less about a specific story and more about capturing a feeling, a fleeting moment in time. He gives us the sounds and smells of Amsterdam, even though they are absent in a visual sense. Witsen encourages us to see, not just look. The way light dances off the water, the gentle hum of city life…he encapsulates a certain poetry. Do you agree that the work leans into poetry in this medium? Editor: That's a new way to think about it for me. Thanks! I never thought a simple drawing could have so many layers. Curator: And that, my friend, is the magic of art. The simple can be profound, the sketch, a masterpiece.