Schetsboek met 72 bladen 1880 - 1882

Curator: This object before us, from the Rijksmuseum collection, is "Sketchbook with 72 Leaves," attributed to George Hendrik Breitner and dating from around 1880 to 1882. Editor: You know, it’s amazing. Looking at it, the first thing that strikes me is how vulnerable and almost sad the cover looks, with its mottled texture. It feels like a witness to a lot of late nights. Curator: That texture, of course, tells a story. Consider Breitner's role within the context of late 19th-century Amsterdam: a city grappling with industrialization, poverty, and rapid social change. These sketches would have documented the very fabric of urban life. Editor: Right. Like a silent movie of his life! Imagine flipping through its pages, a chaotic whirlwind of impressions captured on paper... all the raw emotions and anxieties etched right in there. Curator: Indeed. Moreover, Breitner, linked with the Amsterdam Impressionism movement, documented the lives of the working class. This sketchbook is filled with architectural details and could offer valuable information regarding societal strata. We may ask, to whom did the stories of everyday life in Amsterdam belong? How were they preserved, interpreted, and disseminated through art? Editor: And how did Breitner position himself in that dynamic, as both an observer and participant, I wonder? There is something very intimate and subjective about sketchbooks in general. It makes you wonder if this intimate perspective changed his subjects at all. Curator: Certainly, that is food for thought. The sketchbook exists now as both artistic creation and historical artifact. Editor: Exactly! This object is loaded. Well, now I'm really itching to get inside that sketchbook! Curator: As are we all!