BREITNER, George Hendrik
(b. 1857, Rotterdam, d. 1923, Amsterdam)

The Earring

c. 1893
Oil on canvas, 85 x 58 cm
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam

Dutch qualities reminiscent of a Rembrandt or Vermeer are apparent in the loving presentation of fabrics, furniture and tiled floors in Breitner's interiors. The Earring, painted in Breitner's most prolific period between 1886 and 1901, is characteristic of his reduced and understated palette using only a few colours such as black, white and brown, and done with a spatula.