The Kunstfabriek finishes Breitner
door Anita Moore

George Hendrik Breitner (1857-1923) also known as the 'Amsterdam painter', began his career as a photographer. Strongly influenced by the French Impressionists, he used his photographs to create paintings. His most famous works are those depicting Amsterdam street life, which around 1900 was undergoing tremendous social und cultural changes. Many of Breitner's photographs have, however, never been paintedd and years after his death, the Kunstfabriek (Artfactory) decided to take up the initiative.

Breitner enjoyed portraying misty evening scenes and was fascinated by the movement of people and new forms of transportation. Currently there is an impressive selection of his work, including photographs and paintings, on display at the Amsterdam Historic Museum. However, Breitner took more photographs than he could ever hope to paint in a lifetime, and that is where the Kunstfabriek (Artfactory) comes in.
Founded 5 years ago, the Kunstfabriek introduced a totally new concept to the Amsterdam art scene; its main goal is to make art accessible and affordable to a large audience. The Kunstfabriek was established by Bert-Jan van Egteren and Jan Peter van Doorn, both of whom already had careers in art and advertising. With a team of designers and photographers, they compose the paintings on computer. All designs are produced only once and thus exclusively. The actual paintings are executed in China, where tere are still many academically trained, highly skilled painters, specialised in fine painting; a rare thing to find in Holland, where the focus at art school is more on expression than craft.
The job of the Chinese painters is to copy the prepared designs precisely. Salarie is China are not as high as in Europe, which results in lower costs and, subsequently, lower prices for the customer. Another advantage of the concept is that, by exclusively producing paintings anything is, theoretically, possible, according to the individual prefernces of each client. For example, customers can commission a painting from their personal photographs or favourite subjects: a still life, an old master, or simply something that matches the colour of their couch.
For the Breitner exhibition, 22 of his best-known photographs have been chosen by the Kunstfabriek and reproduced by the Chinese painters.
Prices for the art works start from € 900. Art historian and press agent for the Kunstfabriek, Hanneke Verschuur, explained the situation with regard to royalties in the art world. Is one literally allowed to copy old masters?
"If the artist has been dead for more than 70 years, then the intellectual copyright expires. As long as one doesn't sign the artist's name, or pretend that the work is by the actual artist, then there is no reason for lawsuits of any kind." The Kunstfabriek signs its work as unpretentiously as possible; a little factory with a smoking chimney.
So far, the factory has sold over 2,500 pieces. A glance through its collection shows the variety of works available; cows, landscapes, naked women, details of old masters, still-lifes. Bert-Jan van Egteren, a former specialist in modern art at Christie's, syas: "We are serving an audience, nothing more and nothing less. Of course, there's been a lot of disquiet in the established art world, some call us 'commercial' and our work 'kitsch', however, we serve people who are not yet ready, or can't afford, to buy expensive art, but who do enjoy decorating their homes with something nice that is also very well made. Beyond the poster, so to speak."

The paintings can also be viewed hanging in the cafe of the Amsterdam Historic Museum, as part of the cooperation with the exhibition, 'Breitner's Amsterdam'.

The Amsterdam Times, juni 2004, p. 12