Landschap, mogelijk een duinlandschap 1881 - 1883

George Hendrik Breitner made this landscape sketch, possibly of a dune, with pencil on paper sometime in his lifetime between 1857 and 1923. Breitner was an Amsterdam Impressionist, best known for his paintings of that city. This sketch, though, provides us with an opportunity to explore another side of the Dutch landscape tradition. Throughout the 19th century, artists turned increasingly to the local landscape to explore a sense of national identity, and this drawing may be read in this context. It may not be an idealized scene, but rather, a more objective view. To understand better the social and institutional context of Breitner's work, we might investigate the institutions that exhibited his work, and the critical reception he enjoyed, consulting exhibition reviews, artists' letters, and sales records. Art is often contingent on such things.