Groep figuren 1886 - 1923

George Hendrik Breitner created this sketch, 'Groep figuren', with graphite, and what strikes me is how he makes an image appear through a minimal number of marks. The figures seem to materialize out of the ground. What I love about the drawing is how the artist is trying to find a figure, trying to find a pose. I can see the artist going back and forth, searching. I recognize that feeling. It makes me think about the great draftsmen like Degas, or Manet, all those artists who were constantly drawing to figure out what painting is. Drawing is about learning to see and it is also a kind of thinking, a physical activity of the mind. In these lines, I see the artist thinking.