Landschap 1910

This is George Hendrik Breitner’s ‘Landschap’ from an unknown date, a pencil drawing on paper currently held at the Rijksmuseum. The drawing presents a skeletal view of a tree, its bare branches and trunk rendered with a stark simplicity. Breitner's use of line is both economical and expressive; each stroke captures the essence of the tree’s form, emphasizing its verticality and rugged texture. The composition divides the space unevenly, with the tree dominating one side, allowing the negative space to emphasize the tree's isolation and stark beauty. Breitner challenges traditional landscape art, which typically aims for picturesque or idealized scenes, by focusing on the raw, unadorned structure of nature. This approach, indicative of early modernism, reflects a shift towards portraying the world as directly and honestly as possible. The drawing’s formal qualities – its lines, composition, and starkness – serve to deconstruct conventional notions of beauty, suggesting a new aesthetic that values authenticity over idealism.