Gezicht op het Muntplein te Amsterdam c. 1890 - 1900

Editor: So, this is "Gezicht op het Muntplein te Amsterdam" by George Hendrik Breitner, dating back to around 1890 to 1900. It’s a cityscape drawing rendered with pencil, coloured pencil, and watercolor on paper, currently held at the Rijksmuseum. The sketchiness and use of commonplace materials give it a sense of immediacy. What strikes you about this piece? Curator: Its apparent disposability is interesting. A sketch in what appears to be a common notebook – lined paper and all. How does this choice of material, humble and easily accessible, inform our understanding of art production at the time? Breitner isn't using expensive canvas or prepared drawing paper. Editor: That’s a good point! So the choice of materials suggests something about the artist’s intention, right? Curator: Exactly. He seems less concerned with the preciousness of art and more invested in documenting, almost reportage. The Muntplein, a bustling site of commerce and movement – capturing that daily life likely outweighed concerns about archival quality or posterity. Editor: So the value is in the labor of capturing that specific moment. Were other artists also using these everyday materials at the time? Curator: Definitely. This connects to broader trends challenging academic art. Think about the rise of photography, or Impressionists painting *en plein air*—they prioritized direct experience and immediate engagement with the world around them. Cheap materials democratized artistic practice to some degree, no longer dependent on patronage or academic institutions. What about you? What has changed for you looking closely at the medium used? Editor: I had been mostly focused on the 'Impressionistic' quality of the subject in it. Now, considering the materiality and the means of its production, I see the city sketch as evidence of labor, commerce and perhaps even democratisation in art. Curator: Precisely. This everyday scene rendered on everyday materials. That makes us see that ordinary experiences and materials matter.