Stadsgezicht met kerktorens 1890 - 1946

Cornelis Vreedenburgh made this sketch of a cityscape with church towers with graphite on paper. The first thing that strikes me is the economy of line, the way Vreedenburgh captures so much with so little. It’s all about the essence, the bare bones of form. There is an immediacy here; I can almost feel the artist standing on the spot, quickly jotting down what he sees. It’s as if he’s thinking through his hand, letting the pencil lead the way. I like the materiality of the graphite. See how he uses different pressures to create a range of values, from the faintest whisper of a line to denser areas of shading? The texture of the paper also plays a part, adding a subtle graininess to the image. This sketch feels like a direct ancestor of Wayne Thiebaud's drawings, where simple lines carry so much information. Ultimately, it reminds us that art is a conversation, a constant back-and-forth between artists across time.