Kerktoren 1890 - 1946

Cornelis Vreedenburgh made this drawing of a church tower at an unknown date, with pencil on paper. The soft, light pencil marks conjure the sensation of looking up at the tower. I can feel the artist observing, thinking, and letting his hand follow the lines of the building. You can see how the marks are less about a fixed representation, and more about the experience of seeing. It's not about the *thing*, it’s about the *feeling* of the thing. I wonder what Vreedenburgh was thinking about, sketching away in his notebook. Maybe he was like me, trying to work something out through the act of drawing itself. Each stroke of the pencil isn't just descriptive but becomes a way of thinking, a method of inquiry. And then the artwork comes into being.