G.H. (GEORGE HENDRIK) BREITNER 1857 Rotterdam - 1923 Amsterdam The Singel (Corner Paleisstraat), Amsterdam
Oil / Canvas: 80,5 x 70 cm
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George Hendrik Breitner (1857 to 1923) settled in Amsterdam in 1886 and remained loyal to the city until his death. It was his most beloved subject. In dark, atmospheric canvases, he captured the streetscape and its inhabitants, fascinated by the dynamism of a metropolis in the midst of transformation. During his lifetime, Amsterdam changed from a sleepy provincial town into a thriving centre of commerce and industry. The population grew rapidly, new districts rose from the ground, entire blocks of old houses were demolished, and canals were filled in. For an entire generation of writers and painters, it was an exhilarating moment. The poet Herman Gorter captured the shared sensation: "Amsterdam had been a dull city, but it became a living city. And we were part of it all." Breitner painted that metamorphosis: building sites, demolition works, the glitter of shop window light reflected in wet streets. He rarely showed the city at its most cheerful, yet despite the sombre mood of much of his work, he had little interest in the social hardship these changes brought with them. He looked at his surroundings above all as a painter. What held his attention were forms and colours, enveloped in what he himself called "the fine haze" of the city. He also roamed the streets as a photographer, producing thousands of images, often from unusual vantage points, which helped him find original compositions for his paintings. That photographic eye is unmistakable in his work: abruptly cropped edges, strikingly low or high viewpoints, a certain blurring and a subtle distortion of perspective. His photographic legacy now stands as an exceptional record of Amsterdam life around the turn of the century. Breitner preferred to work in overcast weather, at dusk, in mist or rain. Even his most densely populated squares and streets often convey a sense of solitude and desolation. His hand is instantly recognisable: a broad brushstroke, vivid accents of colour, sharp contrasts of light and dark, and a notable absence of detail. The work made a profound impression on his contemporaries. His principal rival and colleague, Isaac Israels, wrote: "I have just seen a painting by Breitner. (...) It looks magnificent. So magnificent, in fact, that I no longer felt like continuing my walk and simply went home. I thought, I shall give it up, there is no painting against work like this. His work always strikes me like a blow, like someone who suddenly grasps something."
Width: 70 cm
Sale Frederik Muller & Cie, "Collectie K.K. van Hoffen", Amsterdam 31 Oct. 1916, lot 166
Collection prof. H.A. Kaag (1897-1970), Tilburg
Collection heirs H.A. Kaag (daughter), by inheritance
Sale Frederik Muller & Cie, Amsterdam 27 Nov. 1917, lot 1417 (Hfl. 1.025)
Art Gallery Simonis & Buunk, Ede
Private collection the Netherlands
Over G.H. (GEORGE HENDRIK) BREITNER
George Hendrik Breitner began his artistic training at The Hague Academy in 1876. Influenced by the painters of the Hague School and their new realistic approach to nature, Breitner developed a modern and impulsive style of his own and was soon considered an extraordinary talent by fellow artists. He became a member of the painterly society Pulchri Studio and helped paint the Panorama Mesdag (1880-1881), which can still be viewed. Among other things, he painted the cavalry there, practicing on the beach. In 1882 he decided to take a new path. In a letter, he wrote, 'myself, I will paint man on the streets and in the houses the streets and houses they built 't life above all. Le peintre du peuple, I shall try to become or rather I am already because I want it to be.' In the years 1882-1883, he regularly hung out with Vincent van Gogh, with whom he walked the streets a lot 'to go looking for figures and nice cases.' Dissatisfied with the cultural climate in The Hague and attracted to the dynamic and inspiring city of Amsterdam, Breitner left The Hague and joined the Amsterdam Academy in 1886. In that same year, a group of young bohemian writers founded the literary journal 'De Nieuwe Gids,' in which they published their reflections on contemporary artists and passionately propagated the 'L'art pour l'art' ideal in the visual arts and literature. The group, also known as the 'Tachtigers,' included painters like Willem Witsen (1860-1923), writer Adriaan Roland Holst (1888-1976), painter Jan Veth (1864-1925), composer Alfons Diepenbrock (1862-1921) and others. The Tachtigers considered the personal impression much more important than the depiction of realistic details. All the important members were focused on Amsterdam, changing the artistic scene from The Hague to Amsterdam and giving Impressionism a city rather than landscape orientation. Hence Amsterdam Impressionism.
An ambitious painter of modern life, Breitner, along with Isaac Israels (1865-1934), became one of the leading figures of the Amsterdam Impressionist movement. In the eyes of his contemporaries, Breitner was the artist who knew how to depict on canvas those elements that defined the attractive elements of the city. As 'Le peintre du peuple,' he did not want to paint classical themes or create realistic historical paintings in an academic manner, but rather to depict everyday life above all.
Breitner often roamed the streets with his sketchbook and camera to capture the daily lives of construction workers, laborers, maids and playing children. With powerful brushstrokes, he captured what he saw: a fleeting moment, a fragment in time. To convey an impression was painting at its purest; the eye does the rest. Bustling city life would become a recurring subject in his oeuvre. After 1914, he painted less and hardly ever took photographs. He died on June 5, 1923, behind his easel, palette and brush in hand.
