Gezicht op een stad of dorp aan het water 1890 - 1946

Cornelis Vreedenburgh made this drawing of a waterside town with graphite on paper. The marks here are not quite representational, but they're also not abstract; it's like he's thinking through the form of the town as he goes. What I love is how the strokes aren't overly precious, they’re direct and have a searching quality, like he’s trying to understand the weight of the buildings or the feeling of the light. Look at the lower-left corner, where he has built up tone with layers of hatching. It’s like he is asking, "Where is the mass, where is the shadow?" There is a certain open-endedness to the work, that makes it so intriguing. In some ways, this reminds me of Guston’s late drawings. He never stopped questioning, or being willing to start again! It's like a conversation across time.