Gezicht op de Eenhoornsluis te Amsterdam c. 1903

George Hendrik Breitner made this drawing of the Eenhoornsluis in Amsterdam at some point in his life using graphite on paper. It looks like he was really letting loose, feeling the energy of the moment. You can see in the way the lines are so free and scribbled, like he’s trying to capture the essence of the place in a hurry. The physicality of the medium is so evident here. The graphite is all over the place, thick in some areas and light in others. The left page has more definition and a darker tone, whereas the right page is very sparse and fades into the background. Look at the jumble of lines on the left, it is like a puzzle, but the more you look, the more you can distinguish the buildings and structures. It makes me think of Cy Twombly's work, that same sense of raw, unfiltered expression. Both artists share a love for the messy, the imperfect, and the beauty of the spontaneous mark. It’s not about perfection, it's about the feeling. And that's what makes art so endlessly fascinating.