The Bergen School ( nl, Bergense School) was a movement in Dutch painting which manifested itself between 1915 and 1925. It is characterised by an expressionist style, influenced by cubism and showing a preference for darker colours. The participating artists lived and worked in or near the artist's village

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

in the province of

North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland and Utrecht, and west of Friesland and Flevoland. In November 2019, it had a ...

Origin

A considerable number of artists had already been living or working in Bergen before; thus the village had become known as an '

artist colony An art colony, also known as an artists' colony, can be defined two ways. Its most liberal description refers to the organic congregation of artists in towns, villages and rural areas, often drawn by areas of natural beauty, the prior existence o ...

'. A majority of painters belonging to the group lived close to each other on the Buerweg, in the neighbourhood Bergen Binnen, which is situated in between Bergen and

Bergen aan Zee Bergen aan Zee is a village and seaside resort on the North Sea coast in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Bergen, and lies about 9 km west of Alkmaar. History The village was first mentioned in 1848 a ...

. The founders of this movement were the French painter

Henri Le Fauconnier Henri Victor Gabriel Le Fauconnier (July 5, 1881 – December 25, 1946) was a French Cubist painter born in Hesdin. Le Fauconnier was seen as one of the leading figures among the Montparnasse Cubists. At the 1911 Salon des Indépendants Le Fauco ...

and the Dutch painter Piet van Wijngaerdt. They gained many adherents among young painters who agitated against

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

, just like

Fauvism Fauvism /ˈfoʊvɪzm̩/ is the style of ''les Fauves'' (French language, French for "the wild beasts"), a group of early 20th-century modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the Representation (arts), repr ...

did in France and

Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

in Germany. The art theories of the group were largely written down in the magazine 'Het Signaal' (The Signal). The art historian F.M. Huebner was the first one to write about the Bergense School.

Characteristics

The works of the Bergense School are characterised by figurative depiction with cubist influences, an expressionist touch and in dark colours. The artists had a preference for painting

Still life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...

and the

Human figure The nude, as a form of visual art that focuses on the unclothed human figure, is an enduring tradition in Western art. It was a preoccupation of Ancient Greek art, and after a semi-dormant period in the Middle Ages returned to a central position ...

. The movement was a first original expression of a Dutch movement later to be named Expressionism. Its name refers to the village where the painters established, as is assumed because of its special light.

Representatives

Among the most celebrated artists belonging to this school were

Charley Toorop Charley Toorop (24 March 1891 – 5 November 1955) was a Dutch painter and lithographer. Her full name was Annie Caroline Pontifex Fernhout-Toorop. Life Charley Toorop was born in Katwijk. She was the daughter of Jan Toorop and Annie Hall. ...

and

John Rädecker John Rädecker (5 December 1885, Amsterdam – 12 January 1956, Amsterdam) was a painter and sculptor from the northern Netherlands, best known for his Monument on the Dam. Biography According to the RKD he was a pupil of Bart van Hove and ...

. In particular the Amsterdam art collector Piet Boendermaker and C.W.N. Baard contributed to the fame of the Bergense School. Other members of the School are:

Else Berg Else Berg (19 February 1877, Ratibor – 19 November 1942, Auschwitz) was a German-born Dutch painter of Jewish descent; associated with the Bergense School. She was married to the Dutch painter, Mommie Schwarz. She and her husband were both mu ...

, Gerrit van Blaaderen, Arnout Colnot, Dirk Filarski,

Leo Gestel Leo Gestel (11 November 1881, Woerden – 26 November 1941, Hilversum) was a Dutch painter. His father Willem Gestel was also an artist. Leo Gestel experimented with cubism, expressionism, futurism and postimpressionism. Along with Piet Mondrian a ...

, Jaap Weijand, Frans Huysmans, Harrie Kuyten,

Kees Maks Cornelis Johannes Maks (August 22, 1876 – October 28, 1967), known as Kees Maks, was a Dutch painter born in Amsterdam. He studied for a time at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, before becoming a pupil of George Hendrik Breitner.Jansen ...

, Jaap Sax,

Mommie Schwarz Samuel Leser Schwarz, known as Mommie (28 July 1876 – 19 November 1942) was a Dutch Jewish painter and graphic artist. He also worked as a designer of book covers. In 1920, he married Else Berg. Together they became an artistic couple and were ...

Jan Sluyters Johannes Carolus Bernardus (Jan) Sluijters, or Sluyters (17 December 1881 in 's-Hertogenbosch – 8 May 1957 in Amsterdam) was a Dutch painter and co-founder of the Moderne Kunstkring. Sluijters (in English often spelled "Sluyters") was a leading ...

Wim Schumacher Wijtze Gerrit Carel (Wim) Schuhmacher or Schumacher (28 Feb 1894, Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It ...

, Matthieu Wiegman and

Piet Wiegman Petrus Cornelis Constant (Piet) Wiegman (Zwolle, 18 April 1885 – Alkmaar, 30 September 1963 ) was a Dutch painter, graphic artist, sculptor, ceramist and puppeteer.Jelle Troelstra Jelle Troelstra (17 January 1891 – 16 January 1979) was a Dutch painter. His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics. Troelstra's work was included in the 1939 exhibition and sale ''Onze Kun ...

, Henri ten Holt, Bernard Essers,

Henk Chabot Hendrikus "Henk" Chabot (2 August 1894 – 2 May 1949) was a Dutch painter and sculptor. '' Hendrik Chabot: Artist beyond Expressionism. '' If there is any one modern Dutch painter who stands near to Van Gogh, it is, surely, Hendrik Chabot (189 ...

See: Jaap Bremer et al., ''De vriendschap : Henk Chabot en Charley Toorop'', Rotterdam: Chabot Museum 1999. and Thé Lau. Painters like Karel Colnot, Jaap Min and Henk van den Idsert belong to a later generation, but started their careers under the influence of the Bergense School. Museum Kranenburgh in Bergen (NH) and the

Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar is a city museum located in the center of Alkmaar on the Canadaplein (Canada Square). The museum is devoted to presenting and preserving the cultural history of Alkmaar and the surrounding region. History In 1873 the mus ...

owns a considerable number of work by representatives of the Bergense School.

Related movements

Henri Le Fauconnier had already in 1912 become a member of the Amsterdam ''Moderne Kunstkring'' (Modern Art Circle), together with

Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painting, painter, sculpture, sculptor, and film director, filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as "tubism") which he gradually ...

and

Piet Mondriaan Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (), after 1906 known as Piet Mondrian (, also , ; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He is known for being o ...

. A few years after the formation of the Bergense School in

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

another School was formed in 1917-1918, called

De Ploeg De Ploeg (; en, The Plough or ''The Group'') is an artist collective from the city of Groningen in the Netherlands. The collective was established in 1918 by a group of young artists. Their goal was to create new opportunities for exhibitions and ...

Jan Wiegers Jan Wiegers ( Kommerzijl, 31 July 1893 – Amsterdam, 30 November 1959) was a Dutch expressionist painter.Wiegers was educated as a sculptor at the Academie Minerva in Groningen, but he also studied painting at the Academies of Rotterdam under ...

was its central figure. ''De Ploeg'' also worked in an expressionist style, but its use of colour was much more exuberant. The group was notably influenced by the German Expressionism of

Ernst Kirchner Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (6 May 1880 – 15 June 1938) was a German expressionist painter and printmaker and one of the founders of the artists group Die Brücke or "The Bridge", a key group leading to the foundation of Expressionism in 20th-centu ...

and its social outlook was influenced by the upcoming socialism.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bergen School (Art) Modern art Art movements in Dutch painting Expressionism Dutch artist groups and collectives