Studie, mogelijk van een voorovergebogen figuur 1884 - 1886

Curator: Here at the Rijksmuseum, we have George Hendrik Breitner's "Study, Possibly of a Crouching Figure," dating from 1884 to 1886. It's a pencil drawing on paper. Editor: Immediately, there's a beautiful vulnerability about it. Like catching someone in a private moment of reflection, maybe even sorrow. Curator: Indeed. Breitner was deeply engaged with capturing everyday life in Amsterdam, particularly the lives of working-class people. These kinds of sketches were often preparatory works. They gave him the space to play with figures. He later applied similar motifs to his paintings of women. Editor: There's such raw immediacy in the sketch. You feel the artist's hand moving, almost a dance on the paper. I get the sense it's a moment grabbed, an impression quickly captured and set down with a series of lines. I love the way it is unfinished as well, a ghost almost. Curator: Exactly, and that reflects a growing interest, visible in the latter part of the 19th century, in documenting reality and the gritty details of daily existence without romanticism. Editor: And that tone carries over from what is being drawn to what is left to be revealed about drawing itself; in his sketches, the labor of its execution is clear, not only making space for itself, but, by leaving the space un-filled, letting everything in. Curator: In this study, you can observe how his commitment to that sort of realism informed his early processes, setting the foundation for his iconic street scenes and portraits. It challenged the existing aesthetic hierarchy of subject matter. Editor: I think what touches me most is the humanity that peeks through those hasty pencil strokes. Breitner invites us into a private emotional world, that of his and also the models' but furthermore, his drawings invite us to reflect back to ourselves and our own feelings. That is something worth considering today. Curator: Well, I believe this quick sketch reveals a great deal about the artistic values that underscored so many later art movements. Thank you for those compelling thoughts.