Gezicht op een straat, mogelijk in Amsterdam c. 1915 - 1916

George Hendrik Breitner made this drawing, Gezicht op een straat, mogelijk in Amsterdam, on paper with pen and ink. It's a street scene, but there's a real openness to it. Breitner's marks are tentative, like he's thinking aloud with his pen. Look at the way the ink sits on the paper, not quite black, more of a purple hue, barely there, as if the scene is emerging from a dream. On the left side of the page, see how he captures the architecture? It’s so economical, yet the building looms with such solidity. Then your eye travels to the right, and the forms become even more sparse, almost dissolving into the paper. This feels like looking at something that's always moving, always changing. You get the sense that Breitner wants you to know that nothing is set in stone, and even buildings can be impermanent. You can see this approach echoed in the work of Manet, who also embraced the sketch-like quality in his paintings, reminding us that art is not about perfection, but about embracing the messy, the unfinished, and the uncertain.