Gezicht op een beluik aan de Veergrep in Gent, gezien vanaf de Bijlokekaai 1907 - 1909

George Hendrik Breitner made this drawing of a neighborhood in Gent using pencil on paper, but when it was made, we don't know. It’s like we’ve caught him mid-thought. The marks are tentative, searching; you can feel the artist trying to capture the essence of a place. There’s an honesty here, a willingness to show the process of looking and recording. The lines are thin and scratchy, not trying to hide. Look at the way the buildings are suggested with just a few strokes. There's a real sense of weight and depth created with so little information. It reminds me a bit of some of Cy Twombly’s drawings, not in style, but in the way it captures a fleeting moment. It shows us that art doesn’t always need to be about perfect representation; it can be about capturing an idea, a feeling, a memory. It is a reminder that art is about conversation, and it’s okay to leave things open for interpretation.