ART 4
2-DAY 20 December |
BIRTH:
1858 TOOROP |
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Born on 20 December 1858: Jan Theodoor Toorop,
Dutch Symbolist
painter who died on 03 March 1928. — [Vous ne trouvez pas qu'il y a des
O de Trop dans son nom?] Born in Java, he studied art in Delft and Amsterdam. A grant allowed him to study in Brussels, where he came into contact with the XX group, and became a member in 1885. He befriended Khnopff, Ensor and de Groux. In 1886, he met Whistler in London. He discovered the Pre-Raphaelites and William Morris' views on art and socialism. In 1890 he developed his own version of Symbolism using elements of a Javanese aesthetic. Met Péladan in 1892. In 1905 converted to Catholicism. His themes thereafter became religious and even mystic. His style simplified and he adopted a technique close to Pointillisme, which he put at the service of a fragmentation of the surface of the painting at poles from the measured unity to which Seurat aspired. These fragmentary surfaces relate Toorop to Expressionism. — Born in Indonesia, Toorop studied in Amsterdam at the Rijksakademie and also at the Brussels Academy, where he joined Les Vingt when Ensor and Khnopff were members. He lived for a time in England before returning to Holland. He organized the first Dutch show of van Gogh in 1892. He continued through Neo-Impressionism, Symbolism, and even made some works that recall van Gogh's Potato Eaters style; many of his later paintings were commissions from the Catholic Church. He was a major figure in Dutch art, and reproductions of his works hung in middle-class homes. Toorop's works now look to have been a succession of extremes. Perhaps the most charming to present tastes are his Neo-Impressionist dune-and-sea studies; only grasses and gulls anchor the soft-color dots of paint to a landscape reality. But more breathtaking, for some, are the highly decorative Symbolist works such as Song of Good Tidings (1893), a scene of mythological figures in a stylized landscape in which the linear effects of hair and clouds continue onto the broad, flat surfaces of the frames. — He moved to the Netherlands in 1872 and took a course in drawing at the Polytechnische School in Delft (1876–1879). He also studied at the Rijksakademie voor Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam (1880–1882) and at the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs in Brussels (1882–1885). In Amsterdam he joined the St. Lukas Society, and in Belgium he was, in 1884, a founder-member of Les XX, whose purpose was to bypass the jury system of the official Brussels Salon and organize their own exhibitions. Local critics nicknamed these neoimpressionists “Les Bubonnistes,” decrying what they saw as a plague descending on traditional art. But the avant-garde in France coveted invitations to exhibit at their annual shows. Van Gogh expressed surprise when asked to join them in 1890: “I should like to exhibit with them very much, though I'm conscious of my inferiority by the side of so many tremendously talented Belgians.” Although Toorop had met Jozef Israëls in 1880 and respected the style of the Hague school, he was more attracted by what he saw in Brussels, particularly work by French artists. His portraits of 1884 are painted in an Impressionist style. With other members of Les XX he trained himself in plein-air; he learnt from James Ensor how to apply colors with a palette knife and how to use white with the same intensity as other colors. His style, however, remained austere and his scenes of workmen show a sensitive realism reminiscent of Gustave Courbet’s work, for example Respect for the Dead (1884). “Charley” Annie Caroline Pontifex Toorop Fernhout [24 March 1891 – 06 Nov 1955] was the daughter of Jan Toorop. — William Degouve de Nuncques and Jacoba van Heemskerck van Beest were students of Toorop. — LINKS — Self-Portrait in the Studio (1883, 50x36cm; 724x510pix, 83kb) _ Toorop gazes mistrustfully from beneath his wide-brimmed hat. His eyes are obscured by the shadow of the brim, which makes him seem even more reserved. He is seated at a table in his studio, working on a watercolor. A broken plate serves as a palette. In portraying himself in this fashion, dressed ‘artistically’ and seated in the untidy studio, Toorop emphasizes his role as a non-conformist bohemian artist. O grave, where is thy Victory (1892, 62x76cm) _ Dreamlike drawing in which two angels are removing thorns from a corpse coveted by the forces of Evil, on the right. Toorop's characteristic flowing curved lines express good, the broken lines evil. Poster for Delftsche Slaolie (1894) _ Toorop became especially known for his posters, like this one. The Sea (1887) — A New Generation (1892; 160kb) Le Passeur d'eau (1895) _ A book illustration for the poem of Émile Verhaeren [21 May 1855 27 Nov 1916]. |