Schets met enkele personen 1880 - 1923

George Hendrik Breitner made this graphite drawing, Schets met enkele personen, on paper sometime in his life. It's a flurry of activity on a small scale. Breitner's hand moved quickly, I imagine. I’m thinking about his mark-making, light but insistent, mapping a space for figures to emerge. What did it feel like for him to glide the graphite across the paper, deciding where to linger and where to suggest? It reminds me of other sketchers, like Daumier, but with its own sense of immediacy. The scene is a passing moment, a group of people who may or may not be there the next time you look. But Breitner has pinned them down, securing them in place for us to contemplate. It makes me think about what it means to capture the essence of a moment, the way a quick sketch can sometimes be more alive than a finished painting.