Gezicht op het Rokin te Amsterdam 1886 - 1923

George Hendrik Breitner made this sketch of the Rokin in Amsterdam, probably on the spot, using graphite. It’s all about the process, isn't it? The way the artist lays down marks, feels the surface, sees what happens. The texture here is fantastic. See how the graphite catches on the paper's tooth, creating a kind of shimmering effect, and how the artist really digs in to create contrast? It feels immediate, like he was chasing the light as it moved across the buildings. Look at the confident strokes defining the buildings on the right, then how those lines give way to more tentative, exploratory marks on the left. That one bold vertical line, right of centre, anchors the whole composition – it’s so direct and gutsy. Breitner, like Whistler, was really interested in capturing fleeting moments, finding beauty in everyday urban life. It's like he's saying, "Hey, even the mundane can be beautiful, if you really look." And maybe that's the whole point of art, right? To help us see the world in new ways.