Nicolaaskerk te Amsterdam 1890 - 1946

This sketch of the Nicolaaskerk in Amsterdam, by Cornelis Vreedenburgh, is all about seeing what's there with as few marks as possible. It's a dance of observation and quick translation. Look at the way Vreedenburgh captures the domes – not with heavy lines, but with these light, almost hesitant strokes that somehow nail the volume and the light. It feels like he's thinking aloud with his pencil. It reminds me of some of Twombly's quick notations, where the line is more about feeling than describing. There’s a beautiful transparency to the whole thing. You can see the underdrawing, the corrections, the ghost of the artist's hand moving across the page. That’s where the magic is, in the process. It's like Vreedenburgh is saying, "Here's what I saw, but more importantly, here's how I saw it." And that, to me, is what art's all about.