Studie, mogelijk van een dier in een landschap 1883 - 1885

George Hendrik Breitner made this sketch, possibly of an animal in a landscape, on paper with pencil sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. Breitner was a Dutch painter known for his depictions of urban life in Amsterdam. This sketch, now held at the Rijksmuseum, is interesting from a social and institutional perspective, because it reflects the artist's working method and the art world of his time. It's a study, a preparatory drawing, which suggests that Breitner was interested in capturing fleeting moments and the realities of everyday life. During the late 19th century there was a shift towards realism and capturing the essence of modern life, in which artists were seeking to portray the world around them. To understand this work better, we can look into Breitner's involvement in artist societies and the influence of photography on his work. These are important avenues for contextualizing the art and understanding its place in the cultural landscape of the time.