Figuurstudies c. 1900 - 1923

George Hendrik Breitner made this sheet of figure studies with graphite. The softness of the material gives these drawings a ghostly quality, like half-formed thoughts on the page. You can see how the graphite sticks to the texture of the paper, catching on the tiny peaks and valleys, leaving a trail of grey. The top sketch is the most complete, but even here, forms emerge and dissolve, giving a sense of constant movement. The lines seem tentative, searching, as if Breitner is feeling his way around the subject. Look at the way he suggests volume with subtle shading, creating depth without fully defining the edges. This reminds me of Degas and his sketches of dancers, capturing fleeting moments of movement with just a few lines. Ultimately, this piece is about the process of seeing, the way an artist trains their eye to capture the essence of a form with minimal means. There are multiple ways to read the image, and none are more or less correct.