Standing Female Nude 1867 - 1923

George Hendrik Breitner made this sketch, Standing Female Nude, with graphite on paper. The artist was working in the Netherlands at the turn of the 20th century, a time when debates about artistic freedom and the role of the academy were intensifying. Breitner was known for his interest in capturing everyday life, and this nude study is consistent with that theme. At this time, the nude was an established academic genre but, by depicting his model in a casual, unidealized way, Breitner challenges traditional conventions. The model's pose is relaxed, and the sketch lines are loose and spontaneous, which speaks to a modern aesthetic. The very visible traces of the artist's hand rejects the polished and finished look that the art academy valued. To understand this work more deeply, we might look to sources from the period that reveal the changing attitudes towards the human body and the place of the nude within the institutional structure of art.