Brug over de Seine, Parijs 1903

Carel Nicolaas Storm van 's-Gravesande made this drawing of a bridge over the Seine in Paris, using a stick of charcoal in 1902. It's like a fleeting thought captured on paper, the kind of sketch you might do while leaning against the bridge itself. The charcoal feels dry and crumbly, dragged across the page to create these hazy, atmospheric effects. See how the bridge dissolves into the buildings behind it, and the water seems to shimmer with light? There’s a really beautiful tension between detail and vagueness, especially in the way the arches of the bridge are only suggested. The little boats bobbing in the water almost seem to dance, while the dark lines of the buildings loom in the distance. It reminds me of some of Whistler’s etchings, that same interest in capturing a moment, a feeling, rather than a perfect representation of a place. It’s a conversation between artists across time, each finding their own way to see and share the world.