Toren met een koepeldak 1890 - 1946

Cornelis Vreedenburgh made this sketch of a domed tower with a pencil, and for me, it’s the bare bones of a thought, the architecture of an idea. You can see Vreedenburgh’s process right there on the page, his adjustments and searching lines. The most interesting thing here is the texture. It’s not just the texture of the paper but also the way the pencil marks create a kind of visual static, a field of energy. If you look closely at the dome, you can see how Vreedenburgh uses short, curved lines to suggest its volume, almost like he’s building it up from the ground. The smudges and light erasures add to the sense of a fleeting moment captured in time. It reminds me a little of the architectural studies by Otto Wagner, who was also interested in capturing the essence of a building through minimal means. It's a reminder that art is often about asking questions rather than providing answers.