Annotaties c. 1909

This page of annotations was made by George Hendrik Breitner at an unknown date. Look at this, it's a page torn from what looks like a notebook—the kind of paper they make invoices from. Breitner fills it with notes in a scribbly handwriting that is almost impossible to decipher. It’s the kind of writing that trails off, that meanders, that thinks out loud. I imagine Breitner, sitting in a cafe, jotting down ideas, phone numbers, thoughts…it feels incredibly private, like we’ve stumbled into his personal space. There's even a printed advertisement on the page. It makes me wonder about the conversations artists have with the world around them, the way mundane ephemera finds its way into their thinking, their creative process. Maybe this page was never meant to be seen, or maybe it's a deliberate invitation into the artist's process. It reminds me that art isn’t just about grand gestures. It’s about the small, intimate moments, the scribbles, the annotations, that make up a life.