Twee vrouwen op straat 1892 - 1900

Curator: This sketch, simply titled "Twee vrouwen op straat"—"Two Women in the Street"—graces us from the sketchbooks of George Hendrik Breitner. Done somewhere between 1892 and 1900, this piece is pure graphite on paper, held right here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: You know, looking at this, it's less "women" and more... a fleeting impression of skirts and hurried steps. Like catching a moment from the corner of your eye and trying to hold onto it before it dissolves back into the city bustle. There's something poignant about it. Curator: Precisely. Breitner’s brilliance lies in capturing the ephemeral nature of urban life. Look at how he uses line. Quick, gestural marks that suggest movement and texture. He wasn’t after photographic realism but a visceral experience of being there, amidst the women, the wind, the architecture. Editor: That rough hatching? It’s pure emotion. You feel the wind tugging at their clothes, the cold stone under their feet. This isn’t just a cityscape, it’s a felt experience, isn't it? The figures appear almost consumed by the environment around them. And do you think there is something revealing about the artist intention here given that he captured this scene into his sketch book as opposed to more traditionally as a painting? Curator: I think the spontaneous feel captures the true feeling better than he could do otherwise. Absolutely. That impressionistic fleetingness… it suggests the modern experience itself. And you feel as if you were spying into Breitner's private capture of daily life scenes. Editor: It is true... you captured my feeling regarding those sketch strokes! So... if this drawing is about memory... a fragile fragment that barely lingers on the page... then are we not ourselves becoming fragments of memories passing though life as time and history go forward? Curator: It sounds very melancholic from a memory of one's mind... Editor: So, as we turn from this glimpse into Breitner's fleeting streetscape, let's not just remember what we saw, but how it felt, just as Breitner surely intended.