Gezicht op het stadhuis van Brussel, gezien door een smalle straat before 1909

V.C. Andrigo made this view of Brussels Town Hall from a narrow street, using what looks like graphite or a similar medium on paper. The charm of this work lies in the artist’s dedication to documenting architecture, capturing a specific location, while also embracing the spontaneous quality of the mark making. Look closely and you'll see the texture of the paper. It's almost like the artist wanted you to see the drawing. The lines are so delicate, like gossamer threads. Notice how the artist uses hatching and cross-hatching, tiny, repetitive strokes, to build up tone and shadow, creating depth and volume in the buildings. The lines aren’t perfectly straight, but this doesn't detract from the precision, rather, it adds to the charm of the image. This interest in architecture and attention to detail reminds me a little of Piranesi, who was active a century before Andrigo, even though Piranesi's vision had a touch of the sublime and fantastical about it. Like Piranesi, Andrigo invites you to explore the interplay between reality and representation and to question the meaning of art in a world that is always changing.