Gezicht op de Paleisstraat te Amsterdam 1890

George Hendrik Breitner made this sketch of the Paleisstraat in Amsterdam with a graphite pencil on paper. Breitner belonged to a generation of artists in the Netherlands that felt a responsibility to reflect modern life. This sketch is of an ordinary street but it doesn't reflect the traditional values of the art establishment. Instead, the sketch seems to focus on the emerging metropolis with its own visual codes, cultural references, and historical associations. The loose style of the drawing may mirror the experience of city life as fleeting and temporary. Breitner’s sketch represents a social shift, an acknowledgment of everyday life that the Dutch art establishment had previously ignored. Breitner’s work can be studied by understanding how the institutions of art shape the production and reception of art. The sketch can also be seen as commenting on the social structures of his own time, leaning towards the progressive movements of its day.