Jan Toorop, The Three Brides,
1893
Jan Toorop, O Grave, Where Is
Thy Victory? 1892
|
Historical Artist - Jan Toorop (1858 - 1928)
Jan Toorop was a Dutch painter and designer who was born in the Dutch colony Java. At the age
of 13, his family moved to the Netherlands and Jan Toorop studied in Delft and Amsterdam. In
1880 he became a student at the State Academy in Amsterdam. From 1882 to 1886 he lived in
Brussels, where he joined Les Vingts, a group of artists centred around James Ensor.
Jan Toorop worked in various different styles during these years, such as Realism, Impressionism
and Post-Impressionism.
After his marriage to an English woman, Annie Hall, in 1886, Jan 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 own unique Symbolist style, with dynamic,
unpredictable lines based on Javanese motifs, highly stylised willowy figures, and curvilinear
designs.
Thereafter he turned to Art Nouveau styles, in which a similar play of lines is used solely for
decorative purposes, without any symbolic meaning.
Jan Toorop was a leading figure of Symbolism and Art Nouveau. His most successful paintings are
of literary subjects, such as the Three Brides. Jan Toorop converted to Catholicism in 1905 and
began producing religious works. He also created book illustrations, posters, and stained glass
designs.
Contemporary Dutch Artists
Art Galleries in the Netherlands
|
