Rijtuig c. 1902

George Hendrik Breitner made this sketch of a carriage with pencil on paper. Breitner was a key figure in the Amsterdam Impressionism movement in the Netherlands, around the turn of the 20th century. While the image is only a sketch, it speaks to the social changes of his time. We can see the rise of urban life and modernity in the image of a carriage. This was an era of horse-drawn transport sharing space with new technologies like automobiles and trams. The urban landscape was changing rapidly as new forms of transportation influenced social interaction and the pace of daily life. As a social historian, I’m interested in the sketch as a document. Archival research into Breitner's biography and the cultural history of Amsterdam would help us understand the context in which he made this drawing. The sketch gives us insight into the artist's thought process, his interest in capturing movement, and his engagement with the shifting urban landscape.