Paard op het Place des Ternes in Parijs 1884 - 1886

Editor: Right, so this is George Hendrik Breitner’s "Paard op het Place des Ternes in Parijs," made between 1884 and 1886. It's a charcoal drawing currently held at the Rijksmuseum. It feels like a fleeting glimpse, a memory sketched out in charcoal... what do you see in it? Curator: Fleeting is the perfect word! For me, it's all about the ghost of a moment. I see Breitner, sketchbook in hand, just grabbing the essence of that Parisian street. It's more feeling than photograph, isn't it? He’s not trying to give us detail; he’s handing us atmosphere. What do you make of the way he handles the space? Editor: It’s interesting—there’s not much detail, yet the lines somehow suggest depth. The horse and figures are only hinted at. Curator: Precisely! Think about it: he’s using the bare minimum to evoke a bustling city. Breitner wasn't interested in polished surfaces, he was chasing after something rawer, something real. Almost like he's saying, "Here's the energy of Paris, caught in a charcoal net." Does it make you wonder about what he felt while drawing? Editor: Totally. You get the impression he’s less interested in the "perfect" depiction, and more invested in capturing a vibe. It's almost anti-academic. Curator: Exactly! And that's where its power lies. It anticipates, in its own quiet way, the expressive abstraction to come. Think about the Ashcan School later on… How does it sit with you now, having talked it through? Editor: It feels less like a sketch and more like a statement – capturing a subjective truth of a place and moment. That makes me appreciate it more. Curator: Indeed! And hopefully encourages us to embrace the incomplete, the suggestive, and the feeling of a charcoal scribble!