A Heath Landscape, Presumably in Drenthe

Breitner's 'A Heath Landscape, Presumably in Drenthe' (1901) reflects his occasional withdrawal from the urban subject matter most associated with him to explore the open moorland of the Netherlands. Drenthe, with its vast heathlands and prehistoric landscape, was a magnet for Dutch landscape painters including Van Gogh, who had spent time there in the early 1880s. Breitner's version is less melancholic than Van Gogh's Drenthe works but shares a commitment to recording the spacious, low-horizoned quality of this distinctive terrain. The Rijksmuseum preserves this as a less familiar but revealing aspect of his range.

Breitner uses a very low horizon to emphasise the sweeping expanse of the heath under an open sky. Paint is applied in broad horizontal strokes that reinforce the flatness of the terrain. The colour is muted — purples, ochres, and grey-greens — capturing the characteristic palette of Dutch heathland in season.