Paarden bij hun voederbak c. 1897 - 1898

George Hendrik Breitner sketched these horses at their feeding trough with charcoal on paper. Breitner worked in the Netherlands during a period of rapid urban and social transformation, when many artists turned away from traditional subjects to focus on everyday life. Breitner's loose, rapid lines capture the animals' forms with immediacy, but also hint at the changing role of horses in an increasingly industrial society. In Amsterdam at the time, horses were still vital for transportation and labor, yet their presence was increasingly challenged by new technologies. Breitner, deeply interested in the working class, often sketched urban scenes, documenting the lives of ordinary people and animals. Historians can understand Breitner's work better by looking into archives about Amsterdam's urban development, the artist's own notes, and the exhibition histories of his sketches. By understanding the social and institutional context, we see Breitner's drawing not just as a study of horses, but as a reflection on the shifting dynamics of a society on the brink of modernity.