Zwemmers op een aanlegsteiger 1890 - 1946

Cornelis Vreedenburgh made this drawing, "Swimmers on a Jetty," with pen in brown ink, on paper. Here, marks come into being, shifting and emerging through trial, error, and intuition. You know, sometimes I feel like artists are in an ongoing conversation through time, inspiring each other's creativity. I can almost see Vreedenburgh out in the sun making this, trying to capture the moment. What was it like to sit there and make this, to watch the world around him, the swimmers, the light on the water? I wonder if he knew what would happen with it? These thin lines feel so spontaneous and alive. Look at how the dark areas, created with dense hatching, give weight to the figures. It feels like the artist didn't want to overwork the sketch, and he left areas open. I love that open feeling. It embraces ambiguity and uncertainty and it allows for multiple interpretations.