Rokin te Amsterdam, gezien vanaf het Sophiaplein c. 1902 - 1914

George Hendrik Breitner made this drawing, Rokin te Amsterdam, gezien vanaf het Sophiaplein, with graphite on paper. There’s something raw and immediate about it, like catching a glimpse of a thought in progress. The marks are searching, unsure, as if Breitner is feeling his way through the scene. On the right-hand page, the scribbled lines create a sense of depth and texture, almost like he's trying to capture the grittiness of the urban landscape. Then, the sparser left page with the title on it adds to the sense of uncertainty, a space for something new to emerge. It's like seeing the world through a slightly unfocused lens, more about suggestion than photographic accuracy. Think of Cy Twombly’s scribbles; Breitner shows us the world not as a fixed image, but as an ongoing, ever-changing process.