Stadsgezicht met een paard-en-wagen 1880 - 1923

George Hendrik Breitner made this small cityscape with charcoal. It’s all quick, scratchy marks, kind of a monochrome whirlwind of a sketch. I can feel the artist trying to capture the essence of a fleeting moment. I wonder what it was like to stand there, charcoal in hand, trying to get it all down before the horse-and-carriage clip-clopped away? Did he struggle to capture the movement, the light, the energy of the city? He must have, right? I mean, that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? The struggle, the trying, the failing, and then, bam, a mark that sings. It’s like a visual diary entry. Think about other artists, like Daumier, maybe, who were also obsessed with capturing the everyday hustle. It's all one big conversation. It's just all marks on paper, but somehow, it's also so much more.