Huizen met hals- en tuitgevels in Amsterdam, gezien vanaf een brug 1886 - 1923

George Hendrik Breitner made this drawing, Huizen met hals- en tuitgevels in Amsterdam, gezien vanaf een brug, using graphite. It’s like a visual diary entry, capturing a fleeting impression with the bare minimum of marks. Look at how Breitner uses lines – they're not precious or labored. They're quick, searching, and sometimes even a little clumsy. Take, for instance, the way he renders the houses along the canal. They're more like suggestions of buildings than detailed depictions. I love how he captures the essence of the architecture with just a few strokes, leaving plenty of room for our imagination to fill in the blanks. The beauty here is in the immediacy and the raw energy of the drawing. It reminds me of a Cy Twombly sketch, where the process of making is just as important as the final image. It's about capturing a moment in time, a feeling, a vibe, rather than creating a perfect representation. And for me, that's what makes it so compelling.