Gezicht op de brug over de Prinsengracht te Amsterdam ter hoogte van de Berenstraat 1895 - 1898

Curator:Ah, Breitner’s Amsterdam. Here we have “View of the bridge over the Prinsengracht in Amsterdam at the Berenstraat,” created somewhere between 1895 and 1898. Look at that delicate rendering; the faint, aged paper whispers stories of a bygone era. Editor:It’s interesting how quickly the image was captured! You almost feel the artist sitting in front of the landscape quickly sketching what he sees. Given the nature of this sketch, how does it fit within Breitner's larger artistic project? Curator:Excellent question. This sketch acts as a key; through his drawings, he seemed to capture something deeper. I mean, don't we all carry around sketchbooks, little portals to half-formed thoughts and quicksilver feelings? It looks like the city he wants to capture with emotion and impression is possible when we see that these become paintings later on. Don’t you feel a real pulse here, almost voyeuristic, looking directly into the artistic soul? Editor:Absolutely. There's an intimacy that I don't often associate with cityscapes. Do you think that Breitner consciously tried to depict what others might have missed? Curator:Perhaps. Or maybe it's that he just sees what everyone else can see, but he does that *Breitner*. What story do you imagine he's trying to communicate through these swift strokes? A bustling merchant’s afternoon dream perhaps, something glimpsed from a passing train? Or a meditation? Editor:I imagine that this is a part of a whole. When he finishes something in its whole. Thank you for taking the time to share these perspectives! Curator:Of course! Sometimes it's like all you really need is seeing. What happens then makes life into poetry, doesn’t it?