Gezicht op de Vogelenzang te Rotterdam c. 1902

This is a sketch by George Hendrik Breitner, a view of the Vogelenzang in Rotterdam, made with what looks like charcoal. The marks are raw and direct, like a seismograph recording the tremors of seeing. There is a real urgency to the marks; Breitner isn't trying to capture an exact likeness, more like snagging a fleeting impression. Look at how the lines pile up, especially around what might be windows and roofs, creating a kind of visual shorthand for the jumble of urban life. It's all about capturing the energy of a place, not just its appearance. The texture of the paper also plays a part. It is almost as if Breitner wanted to make it his own, but also acknowledge the relationship between the ground he is working on and the marks he is making. You can see similar approaches in the work of Leon Kossoff, who also managed to turn the mundane into something epic. Art’s like that, an ongoing conversation across time, full of echoes and whispers.