Gezicht in Amsterdam met de Nieuwe Kerk c. 1903

This sketch of the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam was done by George Hendrik Breitner, and it's basically a way of thinking on paper. It’s like he's working out an idea, not trying to make something perfect. The scratchy, thin lines almost feel like he’s feeling his way around the shapes. There's a real sense of touch in those marks, and you can see that in the darker, heavier lines on the right that give weight to the buildings and contrast with the negative space on the left. Look how those lines are laid down, one after the other, like he’s building up the form bit by bit. It reminds me of the way Guston would work things out in his drawings, and like him, Breitner is not afraid to leave things unresolved, to let the process be visible. In fact, that's where the energy of the image lies, in its unfinished state. It's an image about looking, not necessarily seeing.