Bouwput Raadhuisstraat, Amsterdam

In Amsterdam many building activities took place in the late 1880's, such as the construction of the Rijksmuseum (1885), the Central Station (1889), the Beurs van Berlage (1903) and on the outskirts of the city where vast new housing projects were being developed. The old city was making way for modern industrial times. Breitner painted a number of these dynamic construction sites with steamengines and hard working labourers. In the centre old houses were being demolished in favour of broad streets. An important project was the construction of the Raadhuisstraat, which took place ca. 1896. In 1898 a shopping arcade was being built along the Raadhuisstraat. Of these building activities Breitner made several large paintings, one of which is the present lot.