Gezicht op de Nonnenplaats te Nijmegen 1893

Editor: Breitner's "Gezicht op de Nonnenplaats te Nijmegen," made with ink and drawing in 1893, gives me the impression of a quick study – a fleeting glance at a bustling cityscape jotted down on a lined notebook page. What jumps out at you when you look at this, how do you feel about its rather sparse form? Curator: Ah, it's a bit like finding a secret note, isn't it? I see a ghost of a city, shimmering with Breitner's hand. The roughness is the charm. It invites us in a way a polished painting never could, doesn't it? There's something intimate about witnessing the artist's thought process, a feeling you can get very few other ways. The rawness, it feels like the ink barely had time to settle before he moved on to chase another scene. Almost impatient, that quality of 'getting it down quick'. What do you imagine was on his mind when he decided to fix this vista on paper? Editor: Maybe trying to capture the essence of a particular moment or the fleeting light on the buildings? Or just practicing and getting his eye in? I also notice the very regular paper: I wonder how he decided what was and was not worth capturing, with that rigid, unforgiving pre-existing structure behind the work... Curator: Exactly! It's as if the ordered page challenges the chaos of the city! Think of it: Breitner was famous for his street photography too, always chasing modern life. Was he sketching this instead of taking photos that day? Was this for himself? Each of these lines of enquiry lead somewhere intriguing, somewhere thought provoking. Editor: That's a new angle on the whole thing – thank you, that was amazing! Curator: It’s the magic of art isn’t it, offering more questions than answers!