Landschap en portretstudies 1884 - 1886

George Hendrik Breitner made this drawing, ‘Landschap en portretstudies’, in the Netherlands with pen and brush in grey ink. It is a study sheet, probably from a sketchbook. Breitner was a contemporary of Vincent van Gogh, and like Van Gogh, he was interested in depicting the lives of ordinary people. Here we see some of the early ideas Breitner had for depicting figures in landscapes. The institutional history of art education and the role of the academy is interesting here. Artists were encouraged to make these kinds of study sheets to develop their skills and their techniques for observing and interpreting the world around them. Historical research into the sketchbooks of artists like Breitner show the conditions under which they worked, the sources they used, and the artistic problems they set themselves. The meaning of an artwork is contingent on these social and institutional contexts.