Studieblad met hoofden 1914 - 1923

George Hendrik Breitner made this drawing, Studieblad met hoofden, with a pencil on paper. Looking at this sheet, I imagine Breitner working quickly, trying to capture a likeness or maybe just a feeling. It's a light sketch, almost ghostly, but that's what I like about it. There is an intimacy about it: a casualness, as if these aren't formal portraits but fleeting glimpses of people he observed in passing. The texture of the paper shows through, adding to the sense of immediacy. I think of other artists who captured such fleeting impressions. Maybe he knew their work, or maybe this interest in the ephemeral is just something that comes up again and again for artists. This drawing feels like a quiet conversation, a simple intimate gesture.