Paard c. 1883 - 1885

Editor: So, here we have “Paard,” or "Horse," a pencil drawing created around 1883-1885 by George Hendrik Breitner. It feels so... ephemeral. Like a fleeting thought captured on paper. What do you make of this sketch? Curator: Fleeting is a great word. It’s like catching a whisper of a memory. I see Breitner almost thinking aloud with his pencil, trying to pin down the essence of a horse. Not its anatomical correctness, but the raw energy, the weight, the spirit. Does it remind you of those half-formed dreams you chase each morning? Editor: Absolutely. But is that a style? I guess I am stuck on trying to fully depict something... Curator: Perhaps this reminds us that a completed image doesn't need full details to speak. It's Impressionistic, right? Think of Monet's water lilies. They don’t depict water lilies literally. Breitner here offers these sketchy lines; what we get is a raw, unedited impression. It invites *us* to fill in the blanks. What story might *we* tell of this half-sketched figure? What's its world? Editor: That makes sense. So, the incompleteness *is* the point in a way. It's about the suggestion of form, more than the perfect form itself. Curator: Precisely. Think about how the visible strokes give a sense of movement even though it’s static. It’s like a frozen frame from a filmstrip. Almost alive! The beauty here lies not just in the artist's hand, but also in the active participation it demands of the viewer. The "story" becomes a dance. It almost makes me wonder, in this very fleeting vision, is this even a horse at all, or something only just gestating into its fully "horseness"? Editor: I hadn’t thought of it that way, but I agree. The beauty is truly in the…beholding. Curator: Yes, I was almost afraid I'd be forever stuck seeking perfection. Breitner says, quite simply, 'let's find the extraordinary in the unfinished. Look with your imagination.” And for me, the real drawing here isn't pencil to paper, but vision to memory!