Annotaties c. 1903

Curator: This is “Annotaties,” a drawing in ink on paper by George Hendrik Breitner, dating back to around 1903. It strikes me immediately with the fragmented yet ordered lines of the ink. Editor: It’s…writing. Is this considered a drawing? What are we even looking at? Curator: Consider the composition, how Breitner uses the entire page as a field. The density of marks varies, creating areas of visual weight and lighter, airier spaces. It is a field of ink against paper; notice the contrasts within that basic visual element. Editor: So it’s about the mark-making itself? Not so much what the marks represent as letters or words? Curator: Precisely. Ignore, for the moment, the semantic meaning. See how the individual strokes contribute to an overall texture? How the varying pressure and speed create different tonal values? What sort of structure do you find here? Editor: I see clusters and lines… a kind of controlled chaos. So, he's using writing to create something…abstract? A visual texture, maybe. But I still don't get it. It looks messy and not even deliberate in composition. Curator: Deliberate maybe, but certainly composed! Isn’t the "messiness" part of its inherent beauty? It compels viewers to think and reflect; you're now considering if he cared for presentation! Isn't that thought something meaningful that viewers might respond to? Editor: I guess focusing on how it looks—the density, the lines—it's kind of freeing, to not have to try to decode any message. It’s all about that intrinsic character, then. Thanks, this inkblot is now more of an intriguing piece of art!