Façade van een gebouw aan de Hoogstraat te Rotterdam 1866 - 1868

This is Isaac Gosschalk's pencil drawing, depicting a building facade on Hoogstraat in Rotterdam. The composition, dominated by vertical and horizontal lines, presents a fascinating architectural cross-section. Gosschalk masterfully uses hatching to model the forms, giving a sense of depth and shadow to the facade's various levels and decorative elements. Notice the intricate details of the ornaments on the left, contrasted with the simpler, more functional lines of the building's structure. The sketch's structural clarity is notable, almost as if Gosschalk aimed to reveal the underlying skeleton of the building. This emphasis on form over detail aligns with a structuralist view, where the arrangement of elements is as significant as the elements themselves. The drawing challenges our perception of space, reducing a complex architectural structure into a series of organized lines and shapes, inviting us to consider the interplay between representation and reality.