Studie 1902 - 1903

This pencil drawing, Studie, was made by George Hendrik Breitner, and is currently housed in the Rijksmuseum. The lines are sparse, almost like a shorthand, capturing the barest essence of a scene. It’s a glimpse into the artist’s process, the initial marks that might lead to something more. There’s a rawness here, a directness. You can almost feel the speed of the hand moving across the paper. The lines are tentative in some places, bolder in others, as if Breitner is feeling his way through the composition. The repeated, almost scribbled lines at the bottom of the sketch could be anything - figures, a landscape. But the more you look, the more you realize it doesn’t matter what it *is*, it's about the energy and the act of seeing. I’m reminded of Cy Twombly’s drawings, but with a Dutch sensibility. It's like eavesdropping on the artist’s thoughts, a private moment made public. In a way, it is the visual equivalent of free-writing, where the process of making becomes the point, embracing the beauty of the unfinished and the possibilities of the unknown.