George Hendrik Breitner (1857-1923)
An artillery resting on the heath
signed 'GH Breitner' (lower right)
oil on panel, 36x59 cm
Exhibited:
-The Hague, Gemeente Museum voor Moderne Kunst 's-Gravenhage, 'Breitner Tentoonstelling', 10 November-9 December 1928, no. 121, as: 'Artillerie op de heide'.
-Provenance:
-Collection Mr. Hendricus Petrus Bremmer, The Hague, by 1928.
-With Kunsthandel E.J. van Wisselingh & Co., Amsterdam, inv. nos. S8539 and S9403.
George Hendrik Breitner is first and foremost known as one of the leading figures of the Amsterdam impressionist movement. His depictions of everyday city life are famous throughout the Netherlands, and he is regarded as le peintre du peuple, or ‘the painter of the people’. However, before his style was fully developed and before he specialised in depicting Amsterdam as a growing capital, Breitner experimented with several other subjects. A frequently recurring scene in Breitner’s earlier oeuvre is the military manoeuvre.
In August and September 1881, Breitner travelled to Brabant, the Netherlands, for the annual military manoeuvres, mainly in Boxtel. Military subjects had fascinated the artist from an early age, and this trip gave him the opportunity to closely observe an artillery. During this period, Breitner made a great number of sketches which later served as inspiration for his oil paintings. In contrast to the tradition of painting military scenes in the Netherlands, with main representatives Charles Rochussen (1814–1894) and Jan Hoynck van Papendrecht (1858–1933), Breitner chose not to depict battle scenes. He mainly focused on military life in times of peace. The present painting shows this preference for depicting an honest presentation of a military manoeuvre where the artillery would need to rest. Breitner did not glorify army life and used these scenes mostly to focus on the interplay of light and dark and to explore different compositions. This painting already shows a tendency towards the modern style he later fully developed. The horizontality of the composition is amplified by putting all horses and wagons on one line. The yellow flowers in the foreground are depicted by mere rhythmic dots, giving the spectator an impression of the dry heather vegetation at the end of summer.
A Distinguished Collection: lots 46-84.
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An artillery resting on the heath
signed 'GH Breitner' (lower right)
oil on panel, 36x59 cm
Exhibited:
-The Hague, Gemeente Museum voor Moderne Kunst 's-Gravenhage, 'Breitner Tentoonstelling', 10 November-9 December 1928, no. 121, as: 'Artillerie op de heide'.
-Provenance:
-Collection Mr. Hendricus Petrus Bremmer, The Hague, by 1928.
-With Kunsthandel E.J. van Wisselingh & Co., Amsterdam, inv. nos. S8539 and S9403.
George Hendrik Breitner is first and foremost known as one of the leading figures of the Amsterdam impressionist movement. His depictions of everyday city life are famous throughout the Netherlands, and he is regarded as le peintre du peuple, or ‘the painter of the people’. However, before his style was fully developed and before he specialised in depicting Amsterdam as a growing capital, Breitner experimented with several other subjects. A frequently recurring scene in Breitner’s earlier oeuvre is the military manoeuvre.
In August and September 1881, Breitner travelled to Brabant, the Netherlands, for the annual military manoeuvres, mainly in Boxtel. Military subjects had fascinated the artist from an early age, and this trip gave him the opportunity to closely observe an artillery. During this period, Breitner made a great number of sketches which later served as inspiration for his oil paintings. In contrast to the tradition of painting military scenes in the Netherlands, with main representatives Charles Rochussen (1814–1894) and Jan Hoynck van Papendrecht (1858–1933), Breitner chose not to depict battle scenes. He mainly focused on military life in times of peace. The present painting shows this preference for depicting an honest presentation of a military manoeuvre where the artillery would need to rest. Breitner did not glorify army life and used these scenes mostly to focus on the interplay of light and dark and to explore different compositions. This painting already shows a tendency towards the modern style he later fully developed. The horizontality of the composition is amplified by putting all horses and wagons on one line. The yellow flowers in the foreground are depicted by mere rhythmic dots, giving the spectator an impression of the dry heather vegetation at the end of summer.
A Distinguished Collection: lots 46-84.
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Estimate
Time, Location
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