Schetsboek met 16 bladen 1880 - 1882

Editor: We’re looking at George Hendrik Breitner’s “Sketchbook with 16 Pages” from between 1880 and 1882, created with drawing and coloured pencil on paper. Looking at it, I’m immediately drawn to the intimate feel of something so personal as an artist’s sketchbook. What kind of insights can we glean from it, do you think? Curator: Ah, Breitner’s sketchbook. For me, it’s like peering over his shoulder as he wanders the streets of Amsterdam. It's that impressionistic spirit captured, raw and immediate. You almost feel the cobblestones under your feet, don’t you? Each page is a fleeting moment, a whisper of a feeling. What strikes you most about his landscape sketches within? Editor: It's the immediacy, like snapshots in time. The coloured pencils lend this softness to the scenes, which almost romanticises them. Were sketchbooks common for Impressionists like Breitner? Curator: Absolutely! They were essential. Imagine lugging an easel through the city! A sketchbook offered freedom. It's the genesis of a grand idea, the playground of artistic experimentation. Breitner used his sketchbooks not just for landscapes but for figure studies, glimpses of city life. It's where he practiced seeing. What do you think he was most interested in capturing with his studies of the world around him? Editor: The everyday, the unposed moments, maybe? He wasn’t after grand portraits or historical scenes, but just slices of life as they unfolded. Curator: Precisely. And isn’t that beautiful? That dedication to the ephemeral, the fleeting beauty in the ordinary? That he valued his time capturing the quickly moving life. This sketchbook isn’t just art; it's a testament to seeing. Editor: I see that! It's not about the finished product but about the act of observing, of truly looking. I love that. Thanks!