Schetsboek met 22 bladen vervaardigd te Amsterdam 1893

This is a sketchbook with 22 pages made by George Hendrik Breitner in Amsterdam. Breitner was known for capturing the city's dynamism, especially its working class. This sketchbook offers us a unique glimpse into Breitner's artistic process. It allows us to trace his methods and thinking, showing how he observed the world and translated it into art. It can give an intimate look at the raw material from which Breitner crafted his finished works. Breitner, working in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, was part of a generation grappling with rapid urbanization and social change. His choice to focus on the lives of ordinary people, rather than traditional portraits of the wealthy, reflects a broader shift in artistic values at the time. To fully understand this sketchbook, we can consult sources like letters, reviews, and social histories of Amsterdam. By piecing together this context, we can appreciate how art is not made in isolation but is deeply embedded in its time and place.