Gebouwen aan de Nieuwe Teertuinen te Amsterdam met wolkenlucht c. 1898 - 1914

Editor: This pencil drawing, "Gebouwen aan de Nieuwe Teertuinen te Amsterdam met wolkenlucht" by George Hendrik Breitner, captures a cityscape around the turn of the century. It's really quite bare-bones, a sketch really. What do you see in this piece that helps us understand its context? Curator: Well, this sketch offers a glimpse into Breitner's artistic process and, more broadly, into the changing urban landscape of Amsterdam at that time. Notice how he focuses on capturing the essence of the buildings and the sky using very economical lines. What do you think this implies? Editor: I guess he's not aiming for photorealism; he's interested in something else...atmosphere, maybe? And what does "economical lines" suggest about public attitudes towards art at that time? Curator: Exactly! Breitner was known for his impressionistic style, trying to capture a fleeting moment. By quickly sketching the scene, he's also documenting a specific stage in Amsterdam's development. The Neue Teertuinen, the location in Amsterdam depicted here, were likely undergoing rapid changes. The fact that this is a quick sketch, rather than a finished painting, suggests how artists at the time were trying to capture those rapidly changing elements within Dutch society. Is there something interesting in the bookbinding between two pages? Editor: You mean the physical fold in the paper? Interesting, it looks like a rupture, both literally, with the folding between the two pages of this sketchbook, but also figuratively, the crumbling old is disrupted by the rapidly-modernizing city...Thanks, that adds a fascinating layer to how I understand the work. Curator: Precisely. Seeing this artwork helps us contextualize the changes happening in Amsterdam and in the art world at the time. It gives us another way to understand both. Editor: It’s like looking at history through the keyhole of an artist’s sketchbook. Cool!