Figuren en een hond, mogelijk op een brug c. 1886 - 1890

George Hendrik Breitner made this drawing, "Figures and a Dog, possibly on a bridge" now at the Rijksmuseum, with broad strokes of charcoal. The drawing is built upon a structural contrast between the light background and the dark, almost violent marks that define figures and space. The composition is notably ambiguous; while figures and a dog might be discerned, their forms are dissolved into the chaotic energy of the marks. This use of line and form destabilizes traditional representational values, inviting us to reconsider how meaning is constructed through visual signs. The materiality of the charcoal itself—its texture and the varying pressure applied—becomes a key element, shifting focus from the subject matter to the act of drawing. The unfinished quality further challenges our expectations, suggesting a process of continual becoming rather than a fixed image. It compels a re-evaluation of the relationship between the artist, the medium, and the viewer in the creation of meaning.