Gezicht in Amsterdam met een figuur c. 1902

This quick pencil sketch of an Amsterdam street view was made by George Hendrik Breitner, though we don't know exactly when. See how the strokes are so minimal, almost tentative? I can imagine Breitner quickly capturing the essence of the scene, reducing the buildings and the figure below to their most basic forms. It’s all about the line here, isn't it? It's kind of vulnerable and unsure. I almost feel like I'm looking at a diagram of a feeling, a mood. I wonder if he felt any sense of kinship with other sketchers like Constable, or the French Impressionists, who were all exploring ways of capturing fleeting moments. This drawing reminds me of a note jotted down in a sketchbook, a little secret between the artist and the world. Maybe he used the sketch as a reference for a painting later on, or maybe he didn’t. And maybe it doesn’t matter. Sometimes the most intimate and revealing art is the stuff that’s never meant to be seen.