Nieuwe Kerk te Amsterdam, gezien vanaf de Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal Possibly 1907 - 1911

This is a pencil drawing by George Hendrik Breitner, depicting the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam, seen from the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal. I'm looking at these tentative lines, all these erasures, ghost marks and pentimenti, and I'm thinking that drawing is like a form of active seeing, where the artist is trying to capture an elusive, fleeting moment. I can imagine him, squinting and sketching, trying to make sense of all the buildings that surround him. The drawing is sparse, really—just a few marks to suggest the architecture and the surrounding buildings. But within those marks, there's a real sense of light and air. It’s not just a picture of a church. It’s a record of a moment of looking, feeling, and thinking about the city. It makes me think about other artists who have worked in this vein, like the urban sketches of Charles Burchfield. They’re all part of this ongoing conversation, always riffing off each other.