Achtergevels van de huizen aan de Warmoesstraat 1890 - 1946

Cornelis Vreedenburgh made this nervous sketch of the backs of buildings on Warmoesstraat. I love how he uses these tiny, wiry marks to define the architecture. I can imagine him standing there, maybe the sun was starting to go down, and he wanted to capture the light hitting those rooftops and the rhythm of the windows before it disappeared. What was he thinking about as he was drawing, and how did he want to communicate what he was seeing? The quick, somewhat frantic energy of the drawing reminds me of Cy Twombly's mark-making. It's as if Vreedenburgh is trying to catch something fleeting, not just the look of the buildings, but also a feeling, a mood. These buildings aren't grand or imposing, but there’s beauty in their everydayness. It feels like an intimate record, an exchange of ideas across time. And that's the thing about drawing and painting—it's this ongoing conversation. We're all just trying to figure out how to see and how to share what we see with others.