The painter

Such a photo might look like the one in fig. 1, taken by Hendrik Breitner. He often shot portraits of naked women. In the picture, we see the characteristic carpets that must have been used in brothels. We also see an unknown woman naked on a bed.

From the 1880s onwards, prostitutes were immortalized for the first time as they lived their daily lives. Before that, almost all of prostitutes served as moralizing warnings or simply as historical pictures. Prostitutes were not only photographed, but also painted. This art was initiated by the Painters of Eighty, the Dutch branch of impressionism. Members included painters such as Hendrik Breitner and Isaac Israëls, as well as writers like Herman Gorter. The club united around 1880 and aspired to L'art pour l'art, 'art for art's sake’. There was no moralizing or emblematic art to be found. These artists captured the modern city without further connotations. The ultimate goal was purely to create beauty.

Although it has never been established with absolute certainty that prostitutes were depicted in the paintings of the Dutch painters, it is highly plausible. The artists portrayed women from various layers of society. For example, it was common for working-class women, maids, and cleaning ladies to appear on their canvases. We also know that these avant-garde artists lived an intense life at the turn of the century. Night owls, otherwise known as prostitutes, were probably not unknown territory to them. It is therefore likely that they also depicted this type of woman. The aim was to create a realistic representation of Amsterdam, to which the ladies of night belonged.

Another part of street life in Amsterdam was the police. Click below if you want to know more about the appearance and practices of the police at that time.