Gezicht op een aanlegplaats voor boten 1907 - 1909

This drawing of a landing place for boats, made by George Hendrik Breitner, looks like it was done on the fly. He’s just quickly jotting down the scene as he sees it. I imagine him standing there, sketchbook in hand, charcoal stick moving fast to catch the light on the water and the rough textures of the wooden planks. There’s a raw, immediate quality to the lines, a kind of beautiful urgency in the way he captures the scene. The marks are minimal but they carry so much information. That one bold stroke that defines the edge of a boat—it’s almost abstract in its simplicity. Looking at it makes me think about other artists, like Manet or Whistler, who were also trying to find new ways of seeing and representing the modern world. You know, it’s all one big conversation. And each artist adds their own voice, their own unique mark, to the mix.