George Hendrik Breitner

Kunsthandel E.J. van Wisselingh & Co, Amsterdam, inv.no. 2721 & 2900
Collection H. van Beek, Rotterdam

Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, G.H. Breitner 1857-1923, 1947, no. 78
The Hague, Gemeentemuseum, G.H. Breitner 1857-1923, 23 December 1947 - 19 January 1948, no. 55

Exhibition catalogue G.H. Breitner 1857-1923, The Hague 1947-1948, cat.no. 55, illustrated

Original canvas. Some minor craquelure to the sky. Very few minor retouched specks to the sky. A few minor retouches to the tree, otherwise this work is in good condition.
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The city of Amsterdam was an inexhaustible source of inspiration to George Hendrik Breitner. After his move to Amsterdam in 1886, he immediately became fascinated by the vitality of the Dutch capital. The busy streets and canals, full of carriages, trams and passers-by, suited his life-long goal to become a painter of every day life and ordinary people.  His interest in day to day reality was firmly rooted in the naturalism of Emile Zola and the Goncourts, French writers he admired. Contrary to refined and idealised townscapes of the Romantic school, Breitner sought the picturesque in every day reality. Breitner's depiction of reality crosses the boundaries of pure registration. He captures his subjects in a crude, dynamic style, rendering the essential features in just a few well-placed strokes. This disregard for detail shook the Dutch art world, but it strongly appealed to the progressive writers of the literary movement of the 'Tachtigers', like Fredrik van Eeden, Willem Kloos and Lodewijk van Deyssel.

The present lot is a great example of Breitner's daring style. It shows the Korte Prinsengracht and Brouwersgracht, a location he knew well and often depicted. Breitner also took several photographs of this location, one of which is reproduced here (see illustration). It is a known fact that the artist, himself a talented photographer, used artistic devices borrowed from photography to create paintings that appear to be a snapshot of every day reality. From 1881 onwards Breitner used photography as an aid to painting, linking both art forms in a revolutionary way.

The present lot is a great example of Breitner's 'urban impressionism'. From a high vantage point he depicts this canal in Amsterdam with raw strength, using effects of chiaroscuro, saturated colours and rough brushstrokes to create a powerful icon of 'Amsterdam Impressionism'.

The present lot was most probably painted before 1889, when the church in the right background, the Posthoornkerk, still had one tower. After that date the other towers were added.