Dobiaschofsky
“Bruges, by the canal”.
Oil on artist’s board
Original catalogue wording
"Bruges, au bord du canal".
Öl auf Malkarton
Date to be documented
Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed
View the lot at the auction house ↗SwissArtGallery · Documented identity
George Hendrik Breitner
Born : 1857Died : 1923Documented citizenships : Netherlands
The Dutch painter George Hendrik Breitner, born in 1857 and deceased in 1923, paid sustained attention to the inhabitants of working-class neighbourhoods and to urban life in Amsterdam. He studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in The Hague from 1876 to 1880 and, from October 1878 to April 1879, taught evening classes at Ars Aemula Naturae, an art academy in Leiden. In 1880, he was expelled from the Academy in The Hague after destroying the board displaying its regulations. He then stayed with the landscape painter Willem Maris in Loosduinen and became a member of Pulchri Studio. In 1884, a six-month stay in Paris enabled him to continue his training in Fernand Cormon’s studio. He settled in Amsterdam in 1886.
His interest in workers, maids and other inhabitants of working-class neighbourhoods is reflected in his choice of models; he described himself as “the painter of the people”. In Amsterdam, he observed city life through sketches, paintings and photographs. The latter could provide the model for a painting, as in the portraits of young women in kimonos, or serve as more general reference material.
Girl in a White Kimono, an oil painting on canvas from 1894, is held at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. The Singel Bridge on Paleisstraat in Amsterdam, also at the Rijksmuseum, is an oil painting on canvas dated 1898. Moonlight, an oil painting on canvas dated 1887–1889, is held at the Musée d’Orsay. In 1994, William Robinson published the article “George Hendrik Breitner and the Emergence of Dutch Modernism” in The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art.
This profile brings together identity references for George Hendrik Breitner and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.
1 references are documented at Dobiaschofsky. Each record links to its source; the amounts are not a general valuation of the artist’s work.
Works recorded at auction
Sources and references
- Reference record
- ARTIC · Reference link only; institutional text and images are not reproduced.
- LoC · Reference link only; institutional text and images are not reproduced.
- Documentary source
- Documentary source
SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Documentation updated : 2026-10-19