Koetsier voor gebouwen te Amsterdam c. 1914s

George Hendrik Breitner made this sketch of Amsterdam with graphite on paper. You can see the fast movements of the artist in the gestural marks, as though he was trying to capture a fleeting moment. The light and sketchy quality of the drawing gives it an immediacy, as if it was done on the spot. Imagine Breitner standing there, rapidly moving his hand across the paper, trying to capture the essence of the scene before him. You can feel the energy of the city, the hustle and bustle of daily life, all distilled into these simple lines. There's a rawness here, an honesty in the way Breitner approached the subject. The sketch is less about perfect representation and more about feeling. It's like he's inviting us to see the world through his eyes, to share in his experience of the city. These quick sketches can teach us so much about how to see and how to translate that vision into art.