Rokin en de Langebrugsteeg te Amsterdam, gezien vanuit Rokin 112 1907

George Hendrik Breitner made this sketch of the Rokin en de Langebrugsteeg in Amsterdam, at an unknown date, using graphite on paper. It's like he's thinking out loud, right? You can see the ghost of the drawing, where he's been and where he's going; the mark making is so clear and exposed. I like the materiality of the pencil on the page, the push and pull between hard and soft. Look at the way the darker marks have almost a furry texture, compared to the smooth, fainter lines. It's like a topographical map of a landscape, but instead of fields and mountains, it's the back-and-forth of the artist's hand. It reminds me a little bit of Philip Guston's late work, where he's just laying it all out there, no holding back, with a kind of raw honesty. But where Guston uses color to punch you in the face, Breitner uses line to whisper in your ear. It's a good reminder that art isn't about perfection, it's about process, about the journey of discovery.