Studie, mogelijk van een kast c. 1900 - 1901

This sketch, likely made by George Hendrik Breitner, captures a moment in the study of form and function. Here, the humble cabinet becomes a subject of contemplation, a vessel of daily life. Note the grid-like structure, a motif echoing throughout art history. From the windows in Renaissance paintings symbolizing perspective, to the geometric divisions in Piet Mondrian's abstract compositions, the grid represents order, structure, and our innate desire to categorize the world. Look at those dates written on the page: these are a map of the artist’s process of registration and remembrance, fixing the object into a place and time. The sketch is not just a representation of an object. It is a trace of the artist's encounter with it. The act of sketching is an act of imprinting, like a memory carved into the mind, resurfacing in different forms across time. Just like cultural memory, motifs evolve, adapt, and reappear, connecting us to a shared visual language that transcends time.