Molenaar met open deur en een architectuurstudie 1906 - 1907

Willem Witsen made this drawing of a miller with an open door, plus a little architectural study, with graphite on paper. What strikes me here is how Witsen renders figures and spaces with such a light touch. See how a few lines confidently capture the scene and convey movement and atmosphere? The marks are transparent, tentative, and searching. You can see the artist working, thinking, trying to capture something ephemeral. It feels like the paper is a space of possibility. On the left, the architectural study uses a skeletal structure. The open door invites us into the scene, as well as leaving enough to the imagination. It reminds me of the drawings of Manet, particularly in its immediacy, but it also makes me think about how Degas used drawing to capture the fleeting moments of modern life. Art is always a conversation across time, isn't it?