Landschap, mogelijk heidelandschap 1906

George Hendrik Breitner made this landscape, possibly a heath landscape, with graphite on paper. Imagine him outside, squinting into the distance. Did he only have a few minutes to capture the scene? Or was he happy to let his eye and hand wander over the scene to create this landscape? The scratches and smudges feel raw and immediate. I think of him wrestling with the scene. The texture of the paper is almost as important as the marks he's making. It reminds me that art is about process as much as outcome. It’s like the drawing is alive, in the midst of becoming something more. Painters like Breitner are in constant dialogue with those who came before and those who will come after. Each mark is a conversation, a response, an opening for new ways of seeing. Painting isn't just about depicting a scene; it's about the act of seeing itself, embracing the uncertainty and letting the image evolve.