Nieuwe Kerk te Amsterdam, gezien vanaf de Dam c. 1902 - 1914

This sketch of the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam, as seen from the Dam, was made by George Hendrik Breitner using graphite on paper. It’s a fleeting, almost ghostly image conjured through a network of tentative lines. The paper has that slightly grubby look, and the marks are layered, like the artist was feeling his way around the subject. There’s a real sense of the artist thinking through drawing, not trying to copy what's in front of him but to map it out. Look at the spire. It's barely there, just a quick squiggle, but it gives you everything you need. This reminds me of Cy Twombly’s work, where a few lines can conjure a whole world. It's about the gesture, the energy, the process of seeing and recording. The beauty of this sketch is in its incompleteness, the way it captures a moment in time. It's as if we're seeing Amsterdam through Breitner's eyes, a city always in motion, always changing.