Gezicht op een straat met bomen 1917

George Hendrik Breitner made this pencil sketch of trees, probably en plein air in his sketchbook. I can imagine him out there, balancing the book, squinting at the scene, and trying to capture the skeletal structure of the trees against the sky. Look how the lines are so tentative and searching, like he's feeling his way through the branches. There’s something so direct and honest about a sketch, you know? No hiding behind fancy techniques, just the artist trying to see and record what’s in front of them. It’s a reminder that even the simplest marks can hold so much information, so much feeling. And it connects him to all of us who have ever tried to capture a glimpse of the world on paper. A beautiful, quiet moment between artist and nature.