Gezicht op een plein in Amsterdam, mogelijk het Leidseplein c. 1900 - 1923

George Hendrik Breitner’s sketch of a square in Amsterdam is all about capturing a sense of place with the bare minimum of means, a few quick strokes, and a whole lotta seeing! I can imagine Breitner, sketchbook in hand, perched somewhere to draw this. The marks capture the essence of the buildings, not every brick, but more the feeling of their bulk. Check out the contrast between the dense hatching on the building and the open, airy strokes suggesting a tree. It’s like he’s trying to capture the light and air as much as the forms themselves. The verso of the page, with its scribbled annotation of 'Picasso' suggests the work of other artists was on his mind. The sparseness reminds me of some of Guston’s late drawings—where it's the searching, stumbling, and feeling that counts. Artists are always looking and learning from each other, aren’t they? Each mark is a record of a thought, a moment, and a dialogue across time.