Studie 1890 - 1946

This drawing on paper is by Cornelis Vreedenburgh and lives at the Rijksmuseum. It is all about tonal variation and gentle marks. It has a diffuse quality, with layered hazy patches and a scumbled surface. I love the way you can see the ghost of an idea – the artist figuring something out through feeling. You can imagine Vreedenburgh building up the surface slowly, rubbing out and adding in, going back and forth until something emerges. It reminds me of the palimpsests that Cy Twombly made. The beauty of this piece is in its subtlety, in the way it hovers between presence and absence. Painting is like a conversation, across time and space. We all learn from each other, riffing on what came before. This quiet study speaks volumes about the artist's process, a testament to the power of observation and the endless possibilities of mark-making.