Auto 1890 - 1946

This drawing, Auto, by Cornelis Vreedenburgh, looks like it was made in one of those little sketchbooks that artists carry around. You can almost feel him working rapidly with a soft pencil! I love the way he's captured the essence of the car with just a few lines. It's like he’s trying to understand the structure of the car, how it balances on its wheels. You know, that kind of 'thinking through drawing' thing. It feels like a fleeting impression, a kind of shorthand notation of a car. What I find interesting is how Vreedenburgh, a landscape painter, turned his eye to a contemporary subject like the car. Maybe he was fascinated by the way these new machines were changing the landscape, or maybe he just thought it looked cool! It reminds me of the futurists and their obsession with speed and technology. Artists are always in conversation with each other.