Schepen op de Oudezijds Kolk bij de Nicolaaskerk 1890 - 1946

Cornelis Vreedenburgh made this pencil sketch of boats on the Oudezijds Kolk near the Nicolaaskerk. It’s all about mark-making, isn’t it? I can imagine Vreedenburgh standing there with his sketchbook, quickly capturing the scene. He uses these confident, energetic strokes to build up the image, layering lines to create depth and shadow. See how he suggests the shapes of the boats and buildings with just a few well-placed marks? It feels like he's trying to understand the structure of the scene, not just copy it. It's like he’s chatting to the paper, a constant back and forth of perception and discovery. There’s a real economy to his approach. It reminds me of other painters like, say, Philip Guston, always looking for a way to distill things down to their essence. Artists are always inspiring one another, like one big conversation across time. It’s that feeling of process that’s key, like a philosophy of embracing the unknown, allowing for multiple interpretations, and finding beauty in the unfinished.