Figuurstudie en een stadsgezicht met een figuur Possibly 1883 - 1886

George Hendrik Breitner made this drawing, Figuurstudie en een stadsgezicht met een figuur, with graphite. It contains both a figure study and a cityscape. Breitner was working in Amsterdam at the turn of the 20th century, a time when the city was rapidly modernizing, but social inequality was rampant. He made it his mission to document the lives of ordinary people, especially the working class. In this sketch, we see his rapid drawing style. His sketches often captured fleeting moments. He was an advocate for photography as a tool for artists, arguing that it allowed them to capture the world as it truly was. This idea was part of a broader shift in the art world, as artists began to question traditional academic styles and embrace more modern forms of expression. To understand Breitner's work fully, we can examine photographs and newspaper articles from the period. These sources help us grasp the social conditions that shaped his art. By exploring these contextual details, we gain insight into how Breitner's art challenged traditional norms.