Portret van een vrouw met een hoed 1890 - 1946

This is Cornelis Vreedenburgh’s "Portrait of a Woman with a Hat," a drawing probably made on the spot, capturing a fleeting moment. The quick, deliberate marks of the pencil create a sense of immediacy, as if Vreedenburgh was trying to capture the essence of his subject before she moved or the light changed. The lines are economical, yet they convey so much – the shape of the hat, the angle of her face, the hint of her features. Look at how he uses shading around the face and hat. It's almost sculptural, giving form and volume with just a few strokes. But it's not just about representation. It's about the act of seeing, the act of translating what he sees onto paper. You can almost feel the artist’s hand moving across the page, making decisions with each line. This feels like a glimpse into the artist’s process, a raw, unedited moment of creation and reminds me of a quick sketch by Matisse. There's an honesty here, an acceptance of imperfection, that makes it feel so alive.