Ronde Lutherse Kerk te Amsterdam 1890 - 1946

Cornelis Vreedenburgh made this drawing of the Ronde Lutherse Kerk in Amsterdam, with graphite on paper. I love the energy of this sketch! It's like Vreedenburgh was trying to capture not just the shape of the building, but also the feeling of being there. I can almost see him, quickly scribbling in his notebook, trying to get it all down before the light changed or a bird flew by. It's less about precision and more about impressions, which, as a painter, I totally relate to. The way he's used line to suggest the curves of the dome and the surrounding trees – it's so efficient and expressive! He's not trying to give us all the details, just enough to get the essence of the place. Artists are constantly in dialogue with each other across time. Someone must have seen this sketch and thought, "I have to paint that!" And so the conversation continues, with each artist adding their voice to the mix. The act of drawing here is an ongoing embodied expression – each mark contributes to multiple readings, all of which remain ambiguous.