Rokin en de Langebrugsteeg te Amsterdam, gezien vanuit Rokin 112 1907

This sketch of Rokin and Langebrugsteeg in Amsterdam is by George Hendrik Breitner. Look at these marks! What I love about drawings like this is getting a sense of the raw and immediate observation, of Breitner’s mind in action as he captures a moment, a place. You can almost feel his hand moving across the paper, trying to capture the jumble of buildings, the sense of depth and perspective, and the energy of the city. I can imagine him standing there, squinting at the scene, rapidly sketching lines and shapes, trying to get it all down before the light changes or the moment passes. There’s a kind of restless energy in the marks, a sense of searching and questioning. The buildings aren’t neatly defined or precisely rendered, but instead emerge from a tangle of lines. I love the way the sketch captures the messy vitality of the city, the way things overlap and intersect, the sense of constant change and movement. It reminds me that art isn’t about perfect representation, but about capturing a feeling, a mood, a way of seeing.