View in the Hague (?) c. 1880 - 1923

Curator: We're now in front of "View in the Hague(?)" an oil painting attributed to George Hendrik Breitner, possibly created sometime between 1880 and 1923. The location in the title has a question mark so its subject is maybe under some debate? Editor: First impressions... I feel like I'm squinting through a hazy window on a particularly gray day. The way Breitner handles the paint—thick, almost sculptural—makes the whole scene feel like a memory struggling to surface. Curator: Interesting observation, I mean he wasn't a 'window-sitter', the 'plein-air' tag on this painting, and many of his artworks, says everything. Think about his approach to labor. Applying paint outdoors involves particular types of equipment, logistical considerations regarding transportation, and of course is vulnerable to variable environmental factors and onlookers. What seems spontaneously splashed onto the canvas actually emerges from fairly deliberative material circumstances. Editor: I see what you mean, but all those constraints are also… freeing, no? Think of the light he was trying to catch, the urgency to capture the ephemeral qualities of that precise moment, the 'feeling' of a fleeting impression, without so much consideration for details... The strokes are quick and decisive, the muted palette giving it a dreamlike quality. It looks incomplete, raw. Curator: 'Raw' precisely sums it up for me. Consider the cost, scarcity, and availability of the pigments, the potential effect of using specific materials on the long-term preservation of this work... It is a painting and commodity that exists in a particular, but here undefined, marketplace. The question mark is in the title... let's reflect also about the circulation of commodities, and 'authentication processes', as something that is historically evolving. Editor: Ha! So different from the modern need to categorize and verify! Well, thinking of the emotional context now: perhaps the painting also reflects a time of great societal shift? The anonymity of those figures huddled together in the street… the city feels both familiar and alienating at once. Curator: I guess. Aesthetically pleasing or emotionally moving are, obviously, also valid ways of approaching this piece. Thank you. Editor: Of course! I can appreciate art for its pure impact and that you showed me different historical sides to it... Until next time!