Gezicht op het Rokin te Amsterdam c. 1902

George Hendrik Breitner made this sketch of the Rokin in Amsterdam, with pencil, on a page in a sketchbook. It’s all about the energy of line here: scratchy, tentative, searching. It’s easy to see the hand moving, trying to capture the essence of a place, almost as if the artist is thinking through the pencil. On the left page are lines, maybe figures? It’s hard to tell, but that’s okay! Art isn’t about perfect rendering. Look at the network of lines on the right page, the horizontal strokes suggesting the facades of buildings. Then see how they dissolve into a jumble of marks higher up, suggesting the sky. It's a glimpse of a bustling city. Breitner’s contemporary, Whistler, also explored these kinds of tonal, atmospheric effects in painting. Both of them were interested in the poetry of the everyday, finding beauty in the fleeting moments of modern life. It’s a reminder that art is a process, an exploration, not just a finished product.