Stadsgezicht c. 1915 - 1920

Willem Witsen made this pencil sketch, titled "Stadsgezicht" or Cityscape, sometime between 1875 and 1923, in the Netherlands. It's a drawing, but it thinks like a painting. Look how the marks build up to suggest depth and form. See how one area is built-up of much denser hatching? This not only gives that section of the composition more weight but also gives the impression of shadow, of light falling across a building. There's a kind of freedom and immediacy that comes through, a sense of capturing a fleeting moment. In the centre, there's a small area of vertical marks. This almost reads like a tonal study for a figure. I love the way that the marks here are so much sparser, the process is laid bare! It reminds me a little of some of Manet’s works on paper. Of course, Witsen is doing his own thing, using the language of drawing to feel his way through the world. And that’s something to celebrate.