Figuurstudies c. 1903

George Hendrik Breitner made these figure studies as a drawing, and you can see how he's really feeling his way through the form. The lines are tentative, searching, almost like he's mapping out a landscape of the body. It’s not about perfection but more about the raw, unfiltered process. You can see the texture of the paper, the graphite smudging, and the way the lines sometimes overlap or trail off. It feels really immediate, like you're looking over his shoulder as he's sketching. Look at the way he's drawn the shoes. It's so quick and simple, but it captures the weight and shape of them perfectly. It reminds me of some of Degas's sketches, where you see the same kind of loose, experimental approach to form. These studies really show the importance of process in artmaking, that it's as much about the journey as the destination. And for me, that’s what makes art so exciting.