Kruier c. 1900 - 1901

Curator: This intriguing pencil drawing, simply titled "Kruier," was created by George Hendrik Breitner around 1900-1901. Editor: It's like looking into the artist's mind. Such a fragile and faint set of lines on this off-white page, it almost feels like a ghost. Curator: Indeed. Breitner, deeply involved with portraying the working class in Amsterdam, often made preliminary sketches like these on paper, as studies for larger works. One must think of the social and cultural shifts happening around that time to properly see what's not there, so to speak. Editor: Exactly. And what a raw object. You can practically feel the texture of the paper, almost smell the graphite from the pencil. You think about Breitner's hand moving across the surface, how his arm connected that labor to a certain market for those sorts of scenes. Curator: Considering Breitner’s impressionist approach, this piece can serve as a time capsule of daily life around the turn of the century. One imagines Breitner on a bustling street observing, rather swiftly, a carrier making their way through a crowded city. Editor: These fleeting moments captured in pencil underscore that aspect. The pencil medium makes it inherently intimate. Think of the labour necessary just to produce paper and graphite on their own; each decision Breitner makes emphasizes the relationship between production, value, and what’s put on display for a specific cultural audience. Curator: This type of intimate work brings us closer to Breitner's artistic process. When brought to light, it highlights how artistic development relies on these moments of preparation. Editor: Looking at these preliminary traces lets me focus on what labour went into a work instead of simply focusing on whatever subject the elite might see depicted. Curator: I leave this pencil drawing with an expanded appreciation of Breitner's place in the historical understanding of the era. Editor: Indeed, and as a record of mark-making.