Gezicht in Amsterdam 1886 - 1923

George Hendrik Breitner made this drawing, a face in Amsterdam, using graphite on paper. Looking at these bold marks, I imagine him working quickly, capturing the essence of the face before it disappears. I can see Breitner, squinting, trying to capture the light hitting a row of buildings, a particular angle, a feeling that only that street in Amsterdam evokes. He's focused on seeing and feeling over perfection or detail. It's all about that moment. Those scratched lines, that dense mark-making—it’s like he's trying to carve out the memory of the city, digging into the paper to find its soul. The raw quality feels very honest. It's about making marks that convey not just what is seen but what is felt. It reminds me of some of Cy Twombly’s looser works, where the line itself seems to be thinking aloud. It's that same kind of energy. A shared visual language of feeling through gesture.