Abklatsch van een gezicht op de Paleisstraat te Amsterdam 1908

George Hendrik Breitner made this rubbing of a face on Paleisstraat in Amsterdam at an unknown date, using graphite on paper. The smudgy, almost ghost-like quality of the image gets me thinking about the act of mark-making itself. It’s like Breitner wanted to capture not just the image, but the very texture and presence of the wall. Look at the top corner, where the graphite is darkest, fading out as it moves down the page. It feels like he’s trying to grab hold of something fleeting, like a memory, or a feeling. There’s a rawness to it. This piece reminds me a little of Cy Twombly’s work, or maybe even some of the early conceptual artists who were interested in process over product. It’s not about perfection, it’s about the trace, the residue of an action.