Schetsboek met 38 bladen 1892 - 1900

Curator: The Rijksmuseum is home to a very special object: a sketchbook filled with 38 leaves, created by George Hendrik Breitner sometime between 1892 and 1900. Editor: A sketchbook… right. My first thought? Intimacy. You know, like peeking at someone’s innermost thoughts. The scrawled writing gives it such a personal feel, doesn’t it? Almost secretive. Curator: Precisely. And that handwriting, rendered mostly in pencil, hints at the immediacy of Breitner's creative process. But, look closer. We are witnessing, on some level, a convergence of influences. We see not only impressionistic impulses, but clear visual threads connecting back to the Dutch Golden Age. It reveals an artistic heritage that lingers beneath the surface. Editor: Hmm, "heritage," "impulses" – big words! To me, it looks like…jotting, really. Like a mental download happening right there on paper. Quick impressions meant to be captured, almost brutally, before they vanish. Very raw. Curator: True, Breitner does embrace a certain kind of raw aesthetic, but notice also the consistent use of certain motifs: self-portraits appear among urban street scenes. These self-portraits serve as more than mere representations; they underscore the artist's individual experience amidst a rapidly changing city. Editor: I dig it! So it’s not just “grab a quick sketch," but "grab a sketch to know yourself." Like, finding identity in a whirlwind. I keep thinking of this like little breadcrumbs of feeling – left for us to find… What do you think that says about our role in looking at it? Curator: An apt metaphor, breadcrumbs. It casts us, perhaps, as both art historians piecing together the narrative and fellow artists reflecting upon the traces of the creator in these pages. Editor: Makes you think twice about your own scribbles, doesn’t it? Curator: Indeed. It adds a strange poetry to a very ordinary object.