Jan Toorop

Johannes Theodorus "Jan" Toorop<ref name="rkd">Template:In lang Jan Toorop, Netherlands Institute for Art History, 2014. Retrieved on 18 February 2015.</ref>Template:Efn (20 December 1858 – 3 March 1928) was a Dutch painter who worked in various styles, including Symbolism, Art Nouveau, and Pointillism. His early work was influenced by the Amsterdam Impressionism movement.

Biography

Johannes Theodorus Toorop was born on 20 December 1858 in Purworejo on the island of Java in the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia).<ref name="rkd"/> His father was Christoffel Theodorus Toorop, a civil servant, and his mother was Maria Magdalena Cooke.<ref name="bwn">Template:In lang B. H. Spaanstra-Polak, Toorop, Jean Theodoor (1858–1928), Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland, 2013. Retrieved on 18 February 2015.</ref> He was the third of five children and lived on the island of Bangka near Sumatra until he was nine years old.<ref name="bwg">Template:In lang Johannes (Jan) Theodoor Toorop, Biografisch Woordenboek Gelderland, 2004. Retrieved on 18 February 2015.</ref> He was then sent to school in Batavia on Java.<ref name="bwg"/>

File:Witsen-toorop.jpg

Jan Toorop in Amsterdam in 1892

In 1869 he left Indonesia for the Netherlands, where he studied in Delft and Amsterdam. In 1880 he became a student at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. He met the Belgian painter William Degouve de Nuncques in 1883 and the two shared a studio for a time and developed a strong friendship.<ref name="Delevoy (1978)">Delevoy, Robert L. (1978) Symbolists and Symbolism. Skira/Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., New York, 230 pp. Template:ISBN</ref>Template:Rp From 1882 to 1886 he lived in Brussels where he joined the artist association L'Essor, which had as its original aim to rebel against the conservative tendencies of the art institutions and circles in Brussels.<ref name=flam>J. (Jules) Dujardin, and Josef Middeler, L'art Flamand, A. Boitte, Brussels, 1896 p. 32 Template:In lang</ref> Later he joined in Brussels Les XX (Les Vingts), a group of artists centred on James Ensor. Toorop worked in various styles during these years, such as Realism, Impressionism Neo-Impressionism and Post-Impressionism.

File:Toorop Dame in wit.jpg

Toorop's Lady in white (1886) of his wife Annie Hall

After his marriage to Annie Hall, a British woman, in 1886, Toorop alternated his time between The Hague, England and Brussels, and after 1890 also the Dutch seaside town of Katwijk aan Zee. During this period he developed his unique Symbolist style, with dynamic, unpredictable lines based on Javanese motifs, highly stylised willowy figures, and curvilinear designs.

In the late 19th century (in 1897) Toorop lived for 20 years in a small house on the market in the seaside town Domburg, Walcheren, Zeeland. He worked with a group of fellow artists, including Marinus Zwart and Piet Mondrian. There was no joint endeavor or common style among them. Each followed his individual personality, but they sought their inspiration in "the Zeeland Light", in the dunes, forests, beaches and the characteristic Zeeland population. Toorop was the center of this group.

His 1900 novel portrait of his friend Marie Jeanette de Lange was made whilst she was not wearing fashionable (restrictive) clothing and it was in the style of Pointillism.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Thereafter he turned to Art Nouveau styles, in which a similar play of lines is used for decorative purposes, without any apparent symbolic meaning. In 1905, he converted to Catholicism and began producing religious works. He also created book illustrations, posters, and stained glass designs.

Throughout his life Toorop also produced portraits, in sketch format and as paintings, which range in style from highly realistic to impressionistic.

Toorop died on 3 March 1928 in The Hague.<ref name="rkd"/> His daughter Charley Toorop (1891–1955) was also a painter, as was his grandson Edgar Fernhout.

Public collections

Among the public collections holding works by Jan Toorop are:

• Museum de Fundatie, Zwolle, Netherlands
• Kröller-Müller Museum

Works

• Portrait of Annie Toorop-Hall (1885)
  Portrait of Annie Toorop-Hall (1885)
• Trio fleuri (1886)
  Trio fleuri (1886)
• The Sea (1887)
  The Sea (1887)
• After the Strike (Template:Circa 1888–1890)
  After the Strike (Template:Circa 1888–1890)
• Broek in Waterland (1889)
  Broek in Waterland (1889)
• Bridge in London (1889)
  Bridge in London (1889)
• The New Generation (1892)
  The New Generation (1892)
• The Three Brides (1893)
  The Three Brides (1893)
• The connoisseur of prints (Dr. Aegidius Timmermann) (1900)
  The connoisseur of prints (Dr. Aegidius Timmermann) (1900)
• Portrait of Marie Jeanette de Lange (1900)
  Portrait of Marie Jeanette de Lange (1900)
• The Shell Fisher (1904)
  The Shell Fisher (1904)
• Dunes and sea in Zoutelande (1907)
  Dunes and sea in Zoutelande (1907)
• The Schelde near Veere (1907)
  The Schelde near Veere (1907)
• Portrait of Johann Heinrich Schrörs (1911)
  Portrait of Johann Heinrich Schrörs (1911)
• Portrait of Otto Lanz (1927)
  Portrait of Otto Lanz (1927)
• Self-portrait (1927)
  Self-portrait (1927)

• Delftsche Slaolie [Delft Salad Oil] (1893)
  Delftsche Slaolie [Delft Salad Oil] (1893)
• Poster for lottery tickets for the Tentoonstelling van Vrouwenarbeid, The Hague (1898)
  Poster for lottery tickets for the Tentoonstelling van Vrouwenarbeid, The Hague (1898)
• Book cover (1916) of Psyche (1898), a fairy tale written by Louis Couperus
  Book cover (1916) of Psyche (1898), a fairy tale written by Louis Couperus
• Levensverzekering-maatschappij Arnhem [Arnhem Life Insurance Company] (1900)
  Levensverzekering-maatschappij Arnhem [Arnhem Life Insurance Company] (1900)

References

<references/>

Sources

• Victorine Hefting: Jan Toorop. 18 February-9 April 1989, Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague. Forew. by Robert de Haas; transl. by Patricia Wardle. The Hague, Haags Gemeentemuseum, 1989. Template:ISBN

External links

• Jan Toorop Research Center