Gezicht op een brug over een gracht te Amsterdam 1907 - 1909

This is a pencil drawing by George Hendrik Breitner of a bridge over a canal in Amsterdam. It's so subtle. I imagine him there, in the cold, rapidly capturing the scene with a few, quick strokes, trying to feel something of the city. The light is flat; he’s concentrating on form. The lines are tentative, searching, but confident at the same time. Notice the marks on the right, perhaps reeds or branches. They remind me of Cy Twombly's sketchbooks, that sort of scratchy and immediate response to place. You can see how the artist is constantly shifting and adjusting his lines until the image starts to materialize. The act of drawing allows the artist to grasp the essence of a place, its atmosphere, and its unique visual qualities. I can imagine him wrestling with this subject, letting his intuition guide the pencil across the page. All these artists, Breitner, Twombly... they're all in conversation.