Gezicht in Amsterdam 1893

George Hendrik Breitner created this sketch of Amsterdam in an undated notebook page. Breitner, who lived from 1857 to 1923, was a key figure in the Amsterdam Impressionism movement, capturing the city's dynamic and rapidly changing urban life. This sketch offers a glimpse into Breitner's process of observing and documenting the world around him. It is interesting to consider the artist's position as a privileged man in Amsterdam at the time. Breitner had a keen eye for the city’s physical changes but also the social stratification that defined it. His work often depicted working-class individuals and the environments they inhabited, yet he himself remained an observer from a different social sphere. The loose lines and unfinished quality invite us to reflect on the transient nature of urban experience, then and now. How do we see the city and who is included in the view?