Breitner in Laren: Rediscovery of a primal artist

George Hendrik Breitner (1857 – 1923) is one of the most important Dutch artists of the late 19th century. In recent decades, his work has primarily been viewed through the lens of his urban subjects and as a photographer. This earned him nicknames such as 'the painter of Amsterdam' and 'Dutch Impressionist'. Due to this 'limiting' view, we have lost sight of Breitner's exceptional artistic qualities. Do you have Breitner in your Dutch collection? One of the best exhibitions of 2024, now on view through September 8, 2024, at Singer Laren.

George Hendrik Breitner

George Hendrik Breitner (1857 – 1923) was a Dutch painter known for his depictions of Amsterdam city life. His work is related to that of the 'Tachtigers', a group of artists with great influence on the Dutch art world during the 1880s. Painters such as Willem Witsen and Geo Poggenbeek, and poets such as Willem Kloos and Lodewijk van Deyssel, belonged to his circle of friends.

 

The Hague years

Because Breitner often sketched at the City Riding School in The Hague, he quickly built up a reputation for his horse studies and was consequently approached by Willem Mesdag. Mesdag was impressed by Breitner's horses and hired him to paint horses as well as the artillery in his now-famous panoramic painting. Panorama Mesdag. Breitner painted, among other things, the artillery and the village of Scheveningen in the large panoramic canvas, which was completed in 1881. It was also during these years that he regularly went out with Vincent van Gogh to draw and sketch daily life together in the streets of The Hague, the laundromats, the workshops, and in the vegetable gardens; Breitner saw himself as the painter of the people (just as Van Gogh did at the time); thus he wrote to his patron in March 1882: 'I myself, I will paint the people on the street and in the houses, the streets and the houses they have built, life above all. I will endeavor to become Le peintre du peuple, or rather I already am, because I wish to. I want to paint history and I will, but history in its broadest sense. A market, a quay, a river, a band of soldiers under a blazing sun or in the snow.. (The Hague, 1882)

Breitner became a member of the Pulchri Studio in The Hague and frequently participated in the life drawing classes there. During this time, he received much support from Charles Rochussen and his patron, the collector Stolk, both of whom purchased several of his works.  

Amsterdam years

In late 1886, after his return from Paris, Breitner left for Amsterdam. The city was in a state of transition; industry was growing and modern traffic was beginning to make its demands: canals were being filled in and new residential areas were being laid out. Breitner was fascinated by the breakthroughs and the urban expansions, but also by what he called 'the fine mist': the picturesque nature of the forms and colors in the inner city. (The 2014 sheet of children's stamps contains five stamps with rate 1 Netherlands. Each stamp depicts a work of art from the Rijksmuseum collection. The stamp on the right, featuring a black-and-white photo of a skater in Vondelpark, is twice the size of the other four stamps. The two stamps on the left feature images of children playing on the beach and of a reclining girl in a white kimono by George Hendrik Breitner. The two stamps in the middle show images of riding donkeys on the beach and of a girl being distracted by her brothers while playing the piano.) In 1886, he also attended the Rijksakademie for a time and soon became a member of the artists' association Arti et Amicitiae there. It was here that his most important works were created, through which he would become the great portrayer of the city and Amsterdam life, both in the light of day and at night. Breitner eagerly sought new concepts, new techniques, and new subjects for his work, with his photographs soon often serving as preliminary sketches for the construction of his paintings. In his first years in Amsterdam, he painted primarily nudes and portraits, such as the famous portrait of the actress Theo Frenkel Bouwmeester. In Amsterdam, Breitner was accepted into the circle of artists and writers that had formed around the bimonthly literary magazine De Nieuwe Gids. With his nudes, weathered portraits, and especially his cityscapes, Breitner became one of the leaders of a group of young artists, the Amsterdam Impressionists, who brought about a significant shift within the artistic climate in Amsterdam during those years.  

Modernism

Breitner's choice of subject matter proved to be a means for an experimental use of line and color, placing him far ahead of his time. In doing so, he played a significant role in the origins of modernism in the Netherlands; a subject deeply embedded in the DNA of Singer Laren. This pioneering role forms the common thread running through the exhibition. Exceptional loans from both the Netherlands and abroad are on display, including works from the Fondation Custodia and *Maannacht* at the Musée d'Orsay, both in Paris; the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp; the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam; the Dordrechts Museum; the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen Rotterdam; and a large number of – international – private collections.

 

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Breitner at Singer Laren through September 8, 2024, a top exhibition featuring exceptional artworks organized by theme: https://www.singerlaren.nl/nl/agenda/1609/15-mei-2024-8-september-2024/breitner