Studie, mogelijk van een landschap met paarden c. 1886 - 1890

Curator: This is a study, possibly of a landscape with horses, by George Hendrik Breitner, dating from around 1886 to 1890. It's currently housed here at the Rijksmuseum, rendered in pencil. Editor: It’s such a whirlwind! My first thought is how evocative those stark lines are—almost like capturing a fleeting moment with barely a breath. Raw energy there. Curator: Absolutely, and it’s fascinating when you consider Breitner’s overall artistic production. This sketch, almost spartan in its economy of line, is born from intense material observation of the industrialized cityscapes he loved to paint. Think of the rapid urbanization of late 19th-century Amsterdam and the need to capture the ephemeral. The very material reality of the modernizing world is laid bare. Editor: So it's less about idealized rural life, more about the pulse of a city reflected even in a landscape sketch? There is an immediacy to the impressionistic style he uses. It is like catching a glimpse. Is that horse even really *there*? It's like a ghost of a horse. Curator: Precisely! The "landscape" isn't a pastoral escape, but another facet of modernity—perhaps horses pulling trams or goods through a burgeoning city. The sketch would have been created using readily accessible and relatively cheap drawing materials—pencil and paper— making it a very efficient way to document scenes and try out compositions. Editor: And the open, unfinished feel? Deliberate choice or an artifact of his creative method? Did he show and sell his sketches, or were these preparatory work in private? Curator: That's the interesting thing, isn't it? It certainly leaves that impressionistic 'unfinished' effect, opening a debate on if it was preparatory and then exhibited later on. Either way, the rapidness of technique points at modern themes. Editor: A lot to chew on. This image captures that transitional feeling--city transforming to something that will later feel utterly contemporary to us. I think I'll go mull that over for awhile. Curator: Indeed, the sketch serves as a valuable material testament to a transformative moment in history. I appreciate how considering production makes visible something deeply interesting about not just what's being created, but how, where, when and with what resources!