Paard met hoofdstel 1887 - 1889

This is George Hendrik Breitner’s sketch of ‘Horse with Bridle,’ likely from the late 19th or early 20th century, made with pen and ink. Breitner was a Dutch painter known for his depictions of working-class life in Amsterdam. This quick sketch, part of a notebook page, offers insight into the artist’s process. The horse, a common sight in the urban landscape of the time, wasn't just an animal; it represented labor, transportation, and the pulse of a city undergoing rapid industrialization. The glimpse of handwritten notes around the drawing further contextualizes it: perhaps these are expenses, or observations on urban life. Breitner's focus on such everyday subjects, far from the elevated themes of academic painting, reflects a broader social shift in the art world, bringing attention to the lives and experiences of ordinary people. To understand Breitner better, one might delve into archives of photographs, newspapers, or even city planning documents to understand the Amsterdam he inhabited and depicted. Art history, after all, is as much social history as it is formal analysis.