Gezicht op een Amsterdamse gevel, met ervoor in de gracht enige schuiten; bovenaan een vrouwenportretje after 1877

Angèle Delasalle captured this view of an Amsterdam canal house using pen and ink on paper. Rather than a highly finished painting, this feels like a quick study, a way of capturing the essence of a place. The quality of the ink lines varies from bold strokes defining the architecture, to delicate scribbles suggesting reflections on the water. Delasalle’s notations in French, scattered across the paper, add another layer of texture. The use of pen and ink, a relatively immediate and portable medium, suggests a direct connection between the artist and her subject. The marks on the paper convey a sense of the artist's hand, her quick decisions and momentary hesitations. While not overtly political, the sketch encapsulates the everyday life of Amsterdam, with working boats and lived-in buildings. By emphasizing the immediacy of the medium and the artist's process, we move beyond a simple image of a canal house, and begin to consider the act of seeing and recording as a vital form of engagement with the world.