Studie c. 1909

Editor: This is George Hendrik Breitner's "Studie," made around 1909. It's a drawing, primarily pencil and graphite on paper, held at the Rijksmuseum. I’m immediately struck by how raw it feels. It's just the barest suggestion of figures; a sketch more than a finished piece. What can you tell me about this drawing? Curator: It's important to consider Breitner's overall artistic project, heavily invested in depicting modern urban life. These figures, rendered with graphite, a material made accessible by industrial processes, point us to the conditions of artistic production at the time. Was he perhaps capturing a fleeting glimpse of laborers? Consider the rapid marks. It is interesting how such preliminary drawings allow one to look into the mind of the artist. What type of paper do you think he used and how was this choice relevant at this time? Editor: I'd guess it’s a relatively inexpensive paper, suitable for quick sketches, perhaps newsprint? Did using cheaper material make this process more accessible for artists, creating space for preliminary, quickly made drawings? Curator: Exactly! The accessibility of both graphite and cheaper paper democratized art-making, moving away from precious materials and the constraints of traditional academic practice. The materiality is revealing: Breitner prioritizes the speed and immediacy of the sketch over the illusion of finish, focusing our attention to how rapidly things could be depicted. Think about it, photography, developing in the era, helped shift visual expectation toward something immediate. In which the drawing acts to demonstrate a thought. How interesting to see art engaging and demonstrating those values. Editor: That makes me look at it differently. It isn’t just a study, it is making an argument of process over the perfect product. So much can be gained from looking at the materials themselves. Thank you. Curator: The materials truly open up insights, not just to technique but to the socio-economic context shaping the work itself!