Prentbriefkaart aan Marie Anne Henrietta Breitner Possibly 1902

George Hendrik Breitner made this postcard to Marie Anne Henrietta Breitner with photography, likely in Amsterdam. Look at how Breitner's approach to photography here is like a painter's approach to applying pigment! The greyscale palette feels cold, capturing the damp chill in the air. The photograph is full of movement, but everything feels veiled. The buildings are blurred in the background as people rush through the slushy snow. The lack of sharp detail reminds me of the way Gustave Courbet applied paint - full of muddy browns and greys, a softened realism. I particularly love the way the figures in the foreground are rendered, almost like charcoal sketches, with dense, smudged lines creating depth and volume. This softness keeps the image open, inviting us to project our own memories and feelings onto the scene. Ultimately, like any good artwork, Breitner’s image remains elusive, resisting any single, fixed interpretation.