Architectuurstudie, mogelijk van een marmeren kroonlijst c. 1902 - 1914

This is George Hendrik Breitner's pencil study of what looks like a marble cornice, probably made at the end of the 19th century. I am always interested in what artists do when they are not making art. The raw infrastructure that goes into the production of artworks—when an artist is just trying to figure something out, that is what you get here. I imagine Breitner outside somewhere, quickly sketching to capture the basic essence of the cornice. There’s a looseness to the sketch, with dimensions hastily written as he tries to understand how each part connects and relates to the whole. This kind of work is a reminder that even grand artworks often start with simple observation and the desire to understand the fundamentals of form and space. It's a quiet, intimate moment of problem-solving, where art and architecture meet.