Landschap met wolkenlucht 1886 - 1923

George Hendrik Breitner made this landscape sketch of the sky with ink on paper. It is all about process, you can see it in the energy of the lines. There’s a kind of impatient joy in the way the marks are put down. See how the artist uses a variety of lines; thin, thick, short, long, straight, and curved. The ink is transparent in places, like a wash, but in other areas it is much more opaque, almost clotted. You can imagine the artist tilting and turning the page, letting the ink pool and run to create accidental effects. The blank areas are just as important, the paper breathes and acts as a contrast, letting your eye complete the image. For me, this piece calls to mind Cy Twombly’s loose scribbles, in how it captures a sense of fleeting movement and atmosphere. Art is like a conversation across generations, where artists respond to and build upon each other’s work.