Annotaties 1898 - 1902

This sketchbook page by George Hendrik Breitner presents us with more than simple notations; it's a window into the artist's process. Look at the linear sketches and dimensions marked beside them. The numerical annotations are not mere measurements; they are symbols of control. These numerical symbols have appeared throughout the history of art and architecture, from the plans of Egyptian pyramids to the Renaissance. The act of planning and organizing space, like a primal urge, seeks to impose order upon the world, a desire to conquer chaos and mortality itself. In Breitner's hands, these annotations reveal how artistic creation is deeply intertwined with the human psyche. These symbols, in a cyclical progression, transform from simple figures into conduits of cultural memory, resurfacing and evolving through time.