Zelfportret van George Hendrik Breitner met schets c. 1880 - 1923

George Hendrik Breitner created this self-portrait with sketch. He mixed media using graphite, brush and paint on paper. I see George figuring things out. On the left, there’s his face, rendered in washes of gray. He’s wearing a cap, and his gaze is direct, but not confrontational. It’s as if he’s caught himself in the mirror and thought, “Hey, let’s see if I can get this down.” Then on the right, a flurry of lines describes what looks like a busy street scene. I think he's thinking about the relationship between observation and mark-making. How do you translate the chaos of the world into something coherent on paper? This piece reminds me that painting and drawing are about thinking, questioning, and always pushing. And how artists are always in dialogue.