Obi Hephzibah Ahaomakaku
Famous Dutch painter and photographer George Hendrik Breitner was born on the 12th of September, 1857. He is renowned for painting street scenes and harbours in a realistic style, horse trams on the Dam, and demolition and construction jobs; he also recorded daily life in the streets of Amsterdam.
He earned himself the “le peintre du people,” which is interpreted as “the people’s painter.” He also had a work preference for working-class models, servant girls and lower-class individuals.
Breitner used photographs as a valuable tool to catch momentary conditions of street life and atmospheric effects. He was among the first to survey handheld cameras which had just been introduced.
By 1890, cameras became affordable; this enabled Breitner, who had become very interested in this instrument, to help provide reference materials for his paintings. After an extensive collection of photographic prints in 1996, it became clear Breitner was a brilliant street photographer.
He often took repeated photographs of a subject from different views and weather conditions. In other cases, he used photography for weather purposes and general reference.
Photos often formed the immediate example for specific paintings; a typical case is the girls in Kimono. As the century came to an end, Breitner was famous as a painter in the Netherlands. In 1901, an exhibition at Arti et Amicitiae in Amsterdam proved that.
During the last years of his life, Breitner frequently travelled, visiting and taking photographs wherever he went. Among the places he visited were; Berlin, Paris, London and many other cities.
