Gezicht op het Singel te Amsterdam bij maanlicht c. 1895 - 1898

George Hendrik Breitner made this drawing of the Singel canal in Amsterdam using graphite on paper. It is a sketch, so the materials are quite simple: graphite, a humble material associated with everyday use, and inexpensive paper. The sketch gives you a sense of the artist's fleeting impression, capturing the essential forms and atmospheric conditions of the scene. The quick, gestural lines convey the basic structure of the buildings along the canal, their facades reflected in the water. The sparse detail makes us aware of the labor involved, or rather, the deliberate absence of it. Breitner used the immediacy of drawing to record a specific moment in time. In doing so, he offers a glimpse into the rapid urbanization and social changes occurring in Amsterdam at the time. The drawing is valuable not just for its aesthetic qualities, but also for the information it provides on the relationship between artistic practice, urban development, and the industrialization of art.