Figuurstudies Possibly 1883 - 1886

George Hendrik Breitner created these sketchbook pages sometime in his lifetime, using pencil on paper. It’s a spontaneous process, pencil allowing for quick notations and erasures. The artist captured fleeting observations. But what kind of observation are we seeing here? It's more than just the recording of visual data. Look closely and you’ll see Breitner has included financial calculations. The figures are as important as the figures. We might think of this in terms of labor, Breitner capturing time and resources on the page. He is literally drawing on the laboring world. This way of working acknowledges the importance of everyday life and accounting as part of artistic practice. Ultimately, it blurs the lines between high art and the mundane realities of earning a living. It reminds us that creativity is always embedded in a wider social and economic context.