Straat met figuren 1890 - 1946

This is Cornelis Vreedenburgh’s sketch, “Straat met figuren,” housed here at the Rijksmuseum. Its linear forms and sparse composition invite us to consider the essence of representation. The artist employs a deliberate economy of line. Each stroke seems to serve a dual purpose, both describing form and suggesting movement. We see a street suggested by the barest indication of buildings, and figures rendered as mere gestures, and the use of hatching adds depth but also serves to flatten the perspective. It calls into question our perception of depth and space within a two-dimensional plane. Vreedenburgh engages with the semiotic potential inherent in minimalist forms, challenging the viewer to decode a complex scene from only the most essential marks. What we are left with is not merely a depiction of reality, but a meditation on the act of seeing itself.