Abklatsch van de krijttekening op pagina 17 recto 1890 - 1946

This faint chalk drawing by Cornelis Vreedenburgh is page seventeen recto of a sketchbook and really asks us to consider what drawing actually *is*. There's this real sense of the artist feeling out the subject with tentative, almost ghostly lines. You can sense the pressure of the chalk, the way it catches on the paper's surface, creating these delicate, almost imperceptible marks. It’s like the city is emerging from a haze, its forms barely there, yet hinting at something solid. Look at the upper right corner of the drawn section. You can see how one line of chalk is bolder, confident. Maybe Vreedenburgh returned to reinforce the first sketch? Did he take one, or multiple walks through the city? It makes you think about the physical act of drawing, of translating what’s in front of you onto a surface. It's a process of discovery, not just representation. Think of this drawing as akin to the work of Giorgio Morandi, who spent his life quietly rendering the same bottles, obsessively, like a mantra. In the end it's about the commitment to seeing, which is really another word for thinking.