Studie, mogelijk van een paardenhoofd c. 1902

Curator: Welcome! Here we have a pencil drawing from around 1902 by George Hendrik Breitner, titled 'Studie, mogelijk van een paardenhoofd', or 'Study, possibly of a horse's head', currently residing here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: Well, it certainly has a haunting quality. The horse's head emerges so subtly, almost tentatively, from the starkness of the paper. Its incompleteness really affects how one views it, a study is is, more so than a finished image. Curator: Exactly. Consider the labor Breitner put into developing this preliminary exploration. Pencil on paper is deceptive in its accessibility. He would have gone through so many sheets of this relatively cheap paper during this era as he examined his composition choices. The horse may even be tied to his other work during this time where the city street became a key character in many of his paintings. The drawing itself represents a disposable step in Breitner's creative process. Editor: Yes, but observe how the varying pressure of the pencil creates light and shadow, giving shape to the horse's head, though not fully complete. Note the dark shading above its eye, as the head is suggested out of nothing. How is that "disposable"? He explores a fundamental tension between presence and absence, and it conveys such emotional resonance for a basic portrait! Curator: I wouldn't disagree with you there. There’s a profound honesty to its unfinished state, providing an invaluable look into the means of its creation. This isn't some romantic, idealized horse. The lack of finish feels connected to a very honest, unvarnished process of artistic work. Think about how Breitner and his colleagues broke new ground with similar subjects and other approaches like painting the urban poor. Editor: You're quite right. But even with that gritty reality, consider the composition! How Breitner places this head so near the edge of the page is fascinating. It accentuates the animal's implied presence beyond the boundaries of the image, forcing a question: what might exist beyond the image’s perimeter? Curator: This little sketch, like many working documents of art history, pulls the curtain back to reveal just how art came into existence from common materials used every day by countless other creators who might never gain similar recognition. Editor: A perspective I deeply appreciate! Perhaps the sketch's very ambiguity, formally, encourages an intimate contemplation on our own perceptions and experiences. It serves as a mirror as much as a portrait, wouldn't you agree?