Schetsboek met 46 bladen c. 1903

This is a sketchbook with 46 leaves, made by George Hendrik Breitner. Looking at this object, you might think, why is it here? Isn't it just a commonplace item? And yet, its very ordinariness is what makes it so interesting. The sketchbook is bound with a mottled cover and a black spine, its pages filled with sketches capturing everyday life. It is the repository of spontaneous thoughts, quick observations, and fleeting moments that might otherwise be lost. The book's materiality speaks to the social context of artistic production. Paper, binding, thread - these are all products of labor. The sketchbook represents a shift in artistic practice, where the process of sketching and observing becomes as important as the finished artwork. It blurs the lines between high art and craft. This emphasis on the everyday, on the value of process, and on the materiality of art challenges traditional notions of artistic creation.