Studieblad met hoofden en hoofddeksels 1880 - 1882

George Hendrik Breitner created this sketch of heads and hats, on paper, sometime between 1870 and 1923. It’s a study sheet, preparatory work for a larger project, something that gives us a glimpse into the artist’s process, and into the ways in which artists were trained in late 19th Century Europe. Here we see two studies of heads, both in profile, and a study of hands. Breitner was Dutch, and his social milieu was that of the urban realist. Artists of this kind sought to represent modern life, in all its grit and reality. Breitner's images of working-class people, painted and drawn in a deliberately rough style, were meant to challenge the bourgeois conventions of the art world. He was one of the first artists to make use of photography in his preparatory studies. These documentary methods reflect modernism's obsession with representing the world as it is. Historians interested in Breitner's art consult archives and period publications for hints as to his working methods, and the social milieu in which he operated. This helps us to understand the values and meanings that are embedded in his art.