Gezicht op gebouwen in Amsterdam c. 1902 - 1914

George Hendrik Breitner made this drawing of buildings in Amsterdam with graphite on paper. It's all about the immediacy of the drawn line, isn’t it? You can see how the artist has made each mark, one after the other, building up the image, bit by bit. I can almost imagine Breitner there, in the moment of creating this piece, squinting slightly as he attempts to capture the essence of the scene before him. What was he thinking as he made each line, each mark? Was he interested in the geometry or the texture of the buildings? The graphite looks a little smudgy, lending a hazy, almost dreamlike quality to the image. Like an attempt to catch a fleeting moment. It reminds me of a drawing by Philip Guston, but with a Dutch twist, of course. Artists, we’re all in conversation with each other across time, borrowing and building on one another's ideas, inspiring each other's creativity. And that’s how art evolves, through this ongoing exchange and dialogue, leaving room for ambiguity and multiple readings.