Werkzaamheden in de bouwput Sint Agnietenstraat te Amsterdam 1903

George Hendrik Breitner made this small painting of a building site in Amsterdam using oil on wood. It’s funny, you know, how a construction site, a place of constant change, can be captured so statically on a little panel. The painting’s surface is smooth, almost polished, with very thin layers of warm browns and tans. I feel the artist allowed the wood grain to subtly show through the paint, adding texture, which is pretty cool. There’s a scratch near the bottom, too, which I love, because it’s almost like the work is still in progress, but in a way that’s out of the artist’s control. It is like another layer of history has been inscribed on the image. Painters like Whistler come to mind when I see this, especially in the subdued, almost tonalist palette. Like them, Breitner shows us that art is all about seeing, feeling, and letting the paint do its thing.