Gezicht op de Vogelenzang te Rotterdam c. 1902

Here is Breitner's 'View of the Vogelenzang in Rotterdam', made with a graphic pencil. I can almost see him out on the street sketching, trying to get the buildings down on paper quickly. The marks are so immediate, like he’s capturing a fleeting moment. It looks like he’s really thinking about structure. See how he uses those dark, energetic lines to define the basic shapes of the buildings? It's almost like he’s building the scene from scratch, one line at a time. You can see the pentimenti in the forms, places where he has reworked the lines. I feel that, you know? It’s like he’s problem-solving right there on the page, trying to figure out the best way to represent what he sees. These artists are in conversation, constantly learning from and pushing each other. Painting isn’t about perfect representation; it’s about feeling, exploring, and embracing the beautiful messiness of it all.