Gezicht op de Prinseneilandsgracht te Amsterdam 1907 - 1909

This sketch of the Prinseneilandsgracht in Amsterdam was made by George Hendrik Breitner sometime around the turn of the last century. The quick, jagged lines of graphite on paper feel more like an impression than a defined composition. I love that you can see the artist thinking, responding, and adjusting to what he sees in front of him. It makes me think about what it would have been like to be there with him at that moment. What sounds would I hear? What would the air smell like? It reminds me of other artists like Daumier, who used drawing as a way of capturing the world around them, and whose style shares a similar directness. It feels very modern somehow, more like a fragment or a detail than a complete picture. It suggests an openness towards the world, where the artist is simply an observer, recording what is there.