1902
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Construction Site in Amsterdam is a 1902 unspecified by George Hendrik Breitner, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This shows a muddy Amsterdam street with half-built houses and workers in hats. Breitner painted this in his studio using photos he took on site. The scene feels alive because he captured the city’s quick changes. He liked painting everyday life. This work shows Amsterdam growing fast. The rough brushstrokes make the scene feel urgent. See this in person at the Cleveland Museum of Art.
A leader of the Dutch Impressionists, Breitner based this painting on a series of photographs he took of a construction site in Amsterdam. Although seemingly executed rapidly on site, the painting was in fact carefully composed in the studio. Aided by his own photographs and sketches, Breitner portrayed a city in transition. Like his friend Vincent van Gogh, Breitner admired naturalist literature and was determined to become a “painter of the people.”
Read the full account in the museum source.
George Hendrik Breitner (12 September 1857 – 5 June 1923) was a Dutch painter and photographer.
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