19th Century European Paintings from the Collection of Jonkheer and Mrs Louis C. de Villeneuve

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Lot 325
  • 325

George Hendrik Breitner Dutch, 1857-1923

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Description

  • George Hendrik Breitner
  • portrait of the wife of the artist H.J. van der Weele
  • signed l.r.

  • oil on paper laid down on panel

  • 18,5 by 14,5 cm.

Provenance

Collection H.J. van der Weele, The Hague
Collection Bolten, The Hague
Sale Amsterdam (Sotheby's), 27 October 1997, lot 319, illustrated in colour

Exhibited

The Hague, Gemeente Museum van Moderne Kunst, Breitner Tentoonstelling, 10 November-9 December 1928, no. 23A
Antwerp, Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Breitner, 1947, no. 2
The Hague, Haags Gemeente Museum, Breitner, 1948, no.2
Amsterdam, Gemeente Musea, Breitner, 1948, no. 155

Literature

Dr. A. van Schendel, G.H. Breitner, Amsterdam 1939, p. 3 illustrated
P.H. Hefting, G.H. Breitner in zijn Haagse tijd, thesis University of Utrecht 1970, no. 75

Catalogue Note

executed in 1885

George Hendrik Breitner was born in Rotterdam in 1857. His father was a trader in stocks from the corn trade and kept in touch with the corn merchants A. and C. van Stolk. When Breitner decided to pursue an artistic career, he was supported by A. van Stolk. The correspondence from those days was retained and was published by P. H. Hefting. In 1876, he studied for a secondary school teaching degree in drawing at the academy of Beeldende Kunsten in The Hague. He received instruction from Charles Rochussen and became friends with Willem de Zwart, Isaac Israëls and Suze Robertson. In 1881, he participated in the Panorama Mesdag. He also kept in touch with Vincent van Gogh. In 1886, he settled in Amsterdam. During this period, he produced the pieces that would establish his reputation: figure pieces, townscapes, basically modern life in a big city. He visited London together with Willem Witsen and Marius Bauer. Up until 1914, he had a studio on the Prinseneiland.

In 1901, Arti et Amicitiae organised an honorary exhibition for him at the Rokin in Amsterdam. He was not very productive during his last years, his heyday was over.

During his time in The Hague, Breitner preferred painting the exercises of the artillery and cavalry in the dunes and on the beach of Scheveningen. In Amsterdam, he often painted servants and common women in the street in accordance to his wish to be a peintre du peuple. However, he also portrayed elegant ladies, as is shown by the portrait of a lady with voile from the collection of the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam and by his portraits of Mrs Frenkel-Bouwmeester (1887), Ms Kitty van Vloten (1890) and Ms Sara de Zwart (1895). The sitter in the present lot is Mrs van der Weele, the wife of the artist H.J. van der Weele, who was a personal friend of Breitner.