Winkelpui in de Kalverstraat te Amsterdam c. 1893s - 1903s

George Hendrik Breitner made this pencil drawing, Winkelpui in de Kalverstraat te Amsterdam, on paper without a known date. It’s like a visual shorthand, right? Breitner is all about catching the vibe of this street, quick and dirty. Look at the smudges, the messy lines, the cross-hatching that builds the shadows. It's not about prettying things up; it's about the raw, buzzing energy of a place. The way he’s layered the pencil, thick in some spots, almost invisible in others, reminds me of a painter pallette. It's all about the process, the act of seeing and marking, not some finished product. It's like he’s saying, "Here’s how I see it, messy and real." And that little scribble at the bottom? His signature, a kind of "yep, I was here." You see that in a lot of Edgar Degas' work too; that need to capture a moment on the go.