Amsterdam, Koningsplein 1890 - 1920

This postcard of Amsterdam, Koningsplein, was produced by Trenkler & Co. and captures a moment through soft washes of color, blurring the line between photography and painting. The marks aren’t quite photographic, with edges softened, and details gently smudged, making it feel like a memory. The colors are muted, dreamy, like a watercolor painting left out in the sun too long. Look at the building on the corner; its awnings are striped, but the stripes aren’t sharp, they bleed into each other, like a hazy summer afternoon. It’s this quality that gives the image a timeless feel. It reminds me of some of Bonnard’s paintings of Paris, where the city is less a collection of buildings and more a feeling, an atmosphere. Like in Bonnard, the process is part of the point, that this isn't a crystal-clear representation, but rather a record of an artist’s engagement with their subject. It's like they're saying, "This is how I see it, and maybe you see it a little differently, too."