Arbeiders aan het werk, mogelijk sloopwerkzaamheden c. 1903

George Hendrik Breitner made this sketch of workers, maybe demolishing something, with blue pencil on paper. It's all about the quickness, the feeling of things being torn down, not precious at all. Look at how he uses line – scratchy, layered, like he’s trying to capture not just what’s there, but the energy of the moment. It’s all about the doing, the process of seeing and marking, without any fuss. You can almost feel the grit and dust in the air, the rough edges of the work. He’s not trying to give us a perfect picture, more like a raw impression, like he’s scribbling down a thought before it disappears. This reminds me of Cy Twombly, the way he used line to create a sense of movement and chaos, but with a real tenderness too. Breitner reminds us that art doesn’t always have to be neat and tidy. Sometimes, the mess is the message.