Boom voor een gebouw c. 1886 - 1891

George Hendrik Breitner sketched "Tree in front of a building" using pencil on paper. Breitner was a flâneur, someone who strolled city streets to observe, sketching as he went. This work offers a glimpse into the artist's engagement with the urban landscape of late 19th-century Amsterdam. The sketch embodies the rapid changes that defined the city during this period, bearing witness to the clash between nature and urban development. Breitner was known for his interest in capturing the everyday life of the working class and the urban environment. "I see nothing attractive about those idyllic subjects, peasants dancing, cows, finery" he said, rejecting the traditional rural subjects favored by his contemporaries. Breitner's focus on urban subjects was not merely aesthetic. It was a conscious choice to engage with the realities of a rapidly changing society, marked by industrialization, urbanization, and social stratification. The raw, unfinished quality of the sketch conveys a sense of immediacy, reflecting the dynamic energy of the modern city.