Annotaties c. 1906 - 1923

This drawing, Annotaties, at the Rijksmuseum, was made by George Hendrik Breitner, and looks like it was made in charcoal or pencil. It's so quiet. I’m thinking about what it feels like to make a drawing, the intimate act of observing something, maybe a quiet moment. I see the cross hatching, and the soft application of the medium, and how it captures a sense of form and light with just a few marks. I imagine Breitner looking at the subject, maybe it’s figures in a landscape. The marks suggest volume with a few scribbled lines; it’s all softly rendered. It feels like he’s thinking through form, line, and texture with each gesture, deciding where to focus and where to let the image fade into the background. It makes me think about other artists who use drawing as a way to explore, like Degas and his sketches of dancers. Artists are always looking at each other and sharing ideas across time. This drawing invites us to embrace the beauty of the unfinished and the potential within every mark.