Landschap met wolkenlucht 1886 - 1923

George Hendrik Breitner made this drawing, Landschap met wolkenlucht, with pen and brown ink, sketching freely on paper. Look at these marks! They quiver and suggest a cloudscape and a landscape at once. What was Breitner thinking as he put pen to paper? Probably not about making a masterpiece, but rather, just letting the hand move, allowing something to emerge through instinct. The texture of the paper gives the drawing a sense of immediacy. The ink bleeds a little, doesn’t it? A certain vulnerability is so striking. I wonder what it would feel like to make a mark like that, to let it exist on its own terms. Artists like Breitner are always in conversation with the world around them, translating what they see and feel into lines and forms. He’s showing us how to see the world with fresh eyes. And that’s an amazing gift.