Studie 1890 - 1946

Cornelis Vreedenburgh made this drawing, called "Studie", with pencil on paper. The sketchiness of the lines gives the impression that Vreedenburgh was trying to capture an idea quickly, maybe something he saw while walking. The texture of the paper itself is part of the piece; you can see the tooth of it coming through the graphite. The lines aren't precise; they’re more about feeling. It reminds me of when I'm in the studio, and I'm trying to figure something out. There’s this back-and-forth process where you're not quite sure what you’re doing, but you’re just letting the hand lead the way. Look at the top corner of the sketch, where you can see Vreedenburgh smudged the pencil to give the impression of shadow. Vreedenburgh's work has a lot in common with Impressionist painters like Camille Pissarro, in that they both have a loose and expressive style, where the emphasis is on capturing the feeling of a scene, rather than a literal representation. And that's what makes art so cool, right? It’s all about interpretation, and there's no one right answer.