Studie en annotaties 1897

This page of studies and annotations was created by George Hendrik Breitner, a Dutch painter and photographer, sometime between 1880 and 1920. Breitner was known for his intimate depictions of Amsterdam and its working class. This sheet of paper provides insight into the artist’s process. As you can see here, Breitner uses a rather mundane piece of graph paper to map out measurements and other details related to either a painting or a photograph. The notations suggest that he was concerned with capturing precise dimensions and spatial relationships. This is particularly interesting when you consider that Breitner worked at a time when the rise of photography was changing the definition of what it meant to capture reality. Breitner, like many artists of his time, was grappling with how to represent the modern world. This page demonstrates his attempt to reconcile traditional methods of representation with the new possibilities of photography. It shows the artist’s desire to capture not just what he saw, but also the underlying structure of reality. This deeply personal, almost mathematical approach offers us a glimpse into Breitner's unique artistic vision.