Muntgebouw en de Munttoren te Amsterdam 1890 - 1946

This is a drawing of the Mint Building and the Mint Tower in Amsterdam, and it’s by Cornelis Vreedenburgh. I really get a sense of the artist capturing a moment. There’s a very particular quality of light, and it's like he’s trying to get it down quickly. You can see the process of the drawing itself. I bet he was standing in the street, holding his sketchbook, trying to capture the scene as quickly as possible before the light changed. He wanted to show the relationship between the buildings and the trees, the sky and the ground. Look at the way the lines are so light and quick! It almost feels like he’s sketching it from memory, but it's pretty accurate. He's interested in depicting the architectural aspects of the city; it feels like a kind of love letter. I wonder what it would have been like to be Vreedenburgh at this moment, what he was thinking and feeling. It's a feeling I'm sure we all recognise.