Dansende figuren 1908

George Hendrik Breitner made this drawing of dancing figures, with graphite on paper. Look at the scratching of lines, the pentimenti of the dancing figures. It’s all about capturing movement, the energy of bodies in motion. You can almost feel Breitner’s hand as he's trying to capture the dance, that he is seeking the essence, the anatomy, and the movement all at once. The thin graphite lines give it a ghostly quality like the dancers are fading in and out of focus. I love the freedom of the marks, like he's trying to nail something down but also letting it be elusive. Painters, we are all in conversation, always have been. We look, we borrow, we steal, we transform. I see echoes of Degas’ dancers here, but with a looser, more frenetic energy, and I’m sure Breitner was looking at other artists too. It makes me want to dance.