Ronde Lutherse Kerk aan het Singel te Amsterdam 1890 - 1946

Cornelis Vreedenburgh made this graphite sketch of the Ronde Lutherse Kerk on paper. It’s all about the energy of the line, isn’t it? Look at how he’s built the image bit by bit. You can almost feel his hand moving across the page, deciding what to include and what to leave out. It’s like a dance of observation. The beauty of this drawing is how raw and immediate it feels. You can see the texture of the paper, the smudges and the varying pressure of the pencil. See how the shading on the lower-left gives weight and depth to the foliage? And then higher up, where the lines are more tentative and broken, it’s like the building dissolves into the sky. That contrast is so important. Vreedenburgh’s sketches remind me a little of some of the early drawings by Mondrian. There's the same kind of searching, a willingness to let the process lead the way. This piece feels incomplete, but that’s where its beauty lies, in its openness and its willingness to embrace imperfection.