Mannenhoofd en een gezicht in Amsterdam met ophaalbruggen c. 1886 - 1923

George Hendrik Breitner made this sketch of a head and drawbridges in Amsterdam with graphite. It’s all about the energy of mark-making, those lines searching, finding, and losing the subject. The drawing is on paper, and you can almost feel the tooth of it. The graphite isn’t trying to hide; it’s right there, immediate and raw. Breitner isn't trying to be precise; he's capturing a feeling, a moment. Look at how he renders the drawbridges – just a few lines, but you get the idea. It's less about the thing itself and more about the sensation of seeing it. The lines overlay one another, creating depth, while also flattening the composition. Think of other artists like Egon Schiele, who also used the sketch as a way to find and define his subjects, or Cy Twombly, whose palimpsestic mark-making reveals art as a process of layering, erasure, and re-discovery. The piece shows that art doesn't always have to be polished, sometimes it’s about the beauty of process and experimentation.