Gezicht op de Kalverstraat met de toren van de Nieuwezijds Kapel te Amsterdam 1907

George Hendrik Breitner made this drawing of the Kalverstraat in Amsterdam as a study, probably in a sketchbook, using black chalk. It’s got that lovely, scratchy, provisional quality. Like he’s feeling his way through the scene. He's trying to work out the basic architecture of what he's seeing. I can imagine Breitner standing there, quickly trying to capture the scene's essence with bold strokes, not worrying too much about detail. You know, how a place feels, rather than how it looks. The stark contrast of the black chalk against the off-white paper gives it a kind of immediacy, a directness. It's like we're right there with him, seeing Amsterdam through his eyes. There’s a real urgency in those lines, a sense of movement and life. It makes you think about the relationship between seeing and drawing, and how a simple sketch can be so powerful. It reminds me of other artists who use drawing as a way of thinking, like Cy Twombly or even some of Matisse’s line drawings. Artists are always riffing off one another.