Hussars in the Open Field

George Hendrik Breitner's 'Hussars in the Open Field' (1901) is one of his military subjects depicting the Dutch cavalry in training — the hussars as the most visually dramatic of the Dutch mounted forces, their distinctive uniforms and their horses' movement creating the dynamic subject material he engaged with alongside his Amsterdam city scenes. His military subjects show his application of his characteristic vigorous, summary handling to the movement and energy of cavalry exercises.

Breitner renders the hussars in the field with his characteristic energetic, summary brushwork — the horses and riders in movement captured with the confident economy of a practiced plein air observer who could register essential movement without laborious detail. His handling of the open field setting and the quality of the Dutch outdoor light creates the atmospheric context for the military exercise. The composition's horizontal emphasis and the figures' distribution across the field gives the subject its spatial breadth.