Stadsgezicht Parijs 1906

Pieter Dupont made this cityscape of Paris with pencil on paper, maybe sitting right there in the street in 1906. I can imagine him, squinting in the daylight, trying to capture the feeling of the city, the hubbub of the cafe and the grand buildings. I wonder if he was thinking about the Impressionists, about capturing a fleeting moment in time. Look how he renders the carriage, capturing movement, the weight of those horses, those thick contour lines. His use of hatching and cross-hatching gives the whole scene a sense of depth and atmosphere, and the grey wash softens the edges, making it feel almost dreamlike. It makes me think about how artists are always in conversation with each other, building on the ideas of the past, while also trying to find their own voice. Painting is about expression but also about the joy of simply putting marks on a surface.