Twee schepen, mogelijk schuiten c. 1898 - 1914

George Hendrik Breitner made this study of two boats with graphite on paper. You can almost feel him capturing the scene, quickly, as a memory aid for a later painting. The marks are raw, not precious. It looks like he is trying to work out how these boats sit in the water – the angles, the light, the shadows. There is a sense of honesty to it. The composition is casual but well-observed. Nothing feels overworked, just a couple of boats recorded on the page. I wonder, what was Breitner thinking about when he was making this study? Probably the same things all painters think about – how to capture a moment, how to be true to what we see, and how to make something that feels alive. The beauty of painting, and drawing too, is that it lets us have a conversation with the world. We leave our mark, and the world leaves its mark on us.