Nieuwe Kerk te Amsterdam, gezien vanaf de Dam c. 1890 - 1900

Editor: Here we have George Hendrik Breitner's pencil drawing, "Nieuwe Kerk te Amsterdam, gezien vanaf de Dam," from around 1890 to 1900. The sketch feels so immediate, almost like a fleeting impression captured on paper. What's your take on this, seeing it here today? Curator: Immediately, I’m drawn to the *process* of creation. Breitner’s choice of pencil and the sketchpad paper highlight a very specific kind of artistic labour. It's portable, readily available, reflecting a certain democratisation of art-making that was occurring at the time. Do you notice the lined paper itself? Editor: I hadn't thought about that! It feels so…ordinary. Not the sort of surface you'd expect for a formal work. Curator: Precisely. And that’s where the materialist perspective becomes relevant. This wasn't intended as a finished "masterpiece", but rather as a tool, perhaps a study for a larger painting. It’s about utility and the immediate needs of the artist in confronting the urban environment. The *act* of drawing, the marks themselves, convey the lived experience of the city. What does this tell us about how the value of "art" is constructed? Editor: That's fascinating. So instead of focusing solely on the beauty of the image, we consider how it was made, its function in the artist's process, and even the availability of materials at the time? Curator: Exactly! Breitner's drawing blurs the boundaries between art and everyday life. This connects to broader social trends of industrialization and the increased access to cheaper materials in that period. We see artistic exploration becoming less precious and more intertwined with the everyday experience. The materials tell a story of access, process and function of this time. Editor: I never considered how the materials themselves could be so informative. Thanks, I will certainly reflect on that on my way home.