Figuur achter een paard 1912 - 1919

George Hendrik Breitner made this drawing, Figuur achter een paard, with a graphic material that looks like graphite or charcoal. It's a dance of tentative lines, shifting to find the form, wouldn't you say? I imagine Breitner out on the streets, sketchbook in hand, trying to capture a fleeting moment. What's so interesting is how with just a few strokes, he evokes the presence of the figure and the horse. It's like he’s teasing out the essence of the scene. I think the material is key: that soft, powdery graphite allows for a range of tones, from delicate whispers to bold declarations, that really conveys the sense of movement. And that long vertical line—is that part of a building, maybe? It’s so minimal, yet it sets up this whole spatial context. It’s not about precision, you know? It’s about intuition, feeling.