Gezicht op daken van huizen te Amsterdam 1890 - 1946

Cornelis Vreedenburgh made this drawing, "Gezicht op daken van huizen te Amsterdam," with graphite on paper. It’s hard to know exactly when, but it gives us a glimpse of Amsterdam’s rooftops as the artist perceived them. I love the directness of the mark-making. It looks like he was trying to grasp the buildings’ forms and geometric shapes by creating a network of lines and hatching marks. You know, the thing about drawing is it's so immediate. I bet he was right there, on the spot. There's something very vulnerable about the process of drawing, like the artist is figuring things out as he goes, and inviting us to participate in that process. I can feel him there, just looking. It kind of reminds me of a Cy Twombly, where the apparent subject matter gives way to the experience of the artist's creative mark-making. Like, the subject of the drawing becomes the thinking itself.