Bernardus Antonie van Beek (30 January 1875, in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

– 3 March 1941, in

Kortenhoef Kortenhoef is a village in North Holland, Netherlands with a population of about 6,780. It is an important part of the municipality of Wijdemeren, and lies about 5 km northwest of Hilversum. Kortenhoef was a separate municipality until 1966 ...

) was a Dutch landscape

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

. He never attended an academy. He was part of the Kortenhoef School, a sub-movement of the

Hague School The Hague School is a group of artists who lived and worked in The Hague between 1860 and 1890. Their work was heavily influenced by the Realism (visual arts), realist painters of the French Barbizon school. The painters of the Hague school genera ...

and is thus in the tradition of

Barbizon School The Barbizon school of painters were part of an art movement towards Realism in art, which arose in the context of the dominant Romantic Movement of the time. The Barbizon school was active roughly from 1830 through 1870. It takes its name f ...

. From his choice of motifs, there are also influences of the

Amsterdam Impressionism Amsterdam Impressionism was an art movement in late 19th-century Holland. It is associated especially with George Hendrik Breitner and is also known as the ''School of Allebé''. The innovative ideas about painting of the French Impressionists w ...

. His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from ...

Life and work

He initially worked with his father as a decorative painter. Subsequently, he attended the School of Arts and Crafts. Then he continued his education, especially in the panel painting. Van Beek was active in various places in northern Holland. At first he was in

Katwijk aan Zee Katwijk aan Zee (literally, ''Katwijk-upon-Sea'') is a seaside resort located on the North Sea at the mouth of the Oude Rijn. It is situated in the municipality of Katwijk and the province of South Holland. History The Origin till the Gol ...

until 1907, then he had a studio in Amsterdam. From 1911, he went to Kortenhoef (Wijdemeren), where he remained until 1931. Finally, his wandering ended in

Vreeland Vreeland () is a village in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It was a part of the former municipality of Loenen. Since 2011 it has been part of the new formed municipality of Stichtse Vecht. It is located on the river Vecht, about 2 km north o ...

(Stichtse Vecht), where he worked as a painter until his death in the year 1941 at the age of 66 years. In Kortenhoef, he met

Paul Gabriël Paul Joseph Constantin Gabriël or Paul Gabriël (5 July 1828 – 23 August 1903) was a painter, draftsman, watercolorist, and etcher who belonged to the Hague School. Biography Gabriël was born in Amsterdam, the son of the sculptor and paint ...

, who had the major influence on his early work. He brought him up to new issues such as the

water lily Water lily or water lilies may refer to: Plants * Members of family Nymphaeaceae * Formerly, members of the genus ''Nelumbo'' (the genus to which lotus belongs) * Some members of the genus ''Nymphoides'' Other uses * ''Water Lilies'' (Monet ...

landscapes in the

polder A polder () is a low-lying tract of land that forms an artificial hydrological entity, enclosed by embankments known as dikes. The three types of polder are: # Land reclaimed from a body of water, such as a lake or the seabed # Flood plains s ...

area and the issue of

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...

. There he met

Evert Pieters Evert Pieters (11 December 1856, Amsterdam - 17 February 1932, Laren) was a Dutch painter, known primarily for landscapes and interiors. Biography He was born to a poor family and was apprenticed to a house painter at an early age. At the ag ...

and

Jan Hillebrand Wijsmuller Jan Hillebrand Wijsmuller (13 February 1855 in Amsterdam – 23 May 1925 in Amsterdam) was a Dutch painter. He belongs to ''The 2. Golden Age of Dutch Painting''. He is an impressionist of the School of Allebé, better known as Amsterdam Impress ...

. These teachers of the Hague School had a significant influence on his painting style and the perfection of his training. On his palette, he chose consciously always those mediums which produced a strong surface light. This followed the tradition of the Hague School 2nd generation. Even the winter face has not the usual darkness. Its luminosity is expressed with selected colours quality combined with the wet into wet technique with loose, fluid brushwork. This is a result of the surface of the canvas and the pigments with its binder. In the paintings of the city face he orientated almost towards to

Jan Vermeer Johannes Vermeer ( , , see below; also known as Jan Vermeer; October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch Baroque Period painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle-class life. During his lifetime, he was a moderately succe ...

(1632-1675), like "The street of

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

" and Gerrit Adriaensz. Berckheyde (1638-1698), like "Place at the St. Bravo Church in

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...

". His chosen colors are a sensitive modification of the Hague School 2nd generation. Especially the selected, graded shade of blue as a message of the trapped atmosphere is a characteristic of him. The screen layout is corresponding to the former kind of the old Dutch landscape painting - he rises from bottom left to top right. The horizon of his Pictures moves from the lower third, over the middle to upper third.

Paintings

His chosen genres ranged from genre landscape painting with scenes of summer landscape, polders and the village face to the city face. In still life, he had primarily adopted the flower as an object. He also chooses the classic theme of the windmill of

Jan Hendrik Weissenbruch Jan Hendrik Weissenbruch, also known as Hendrik Johannes Weissenbruch (born 19 June 1824 in The Hague – died 24 March 1903 in The Hague) was a Dutch painter of the Hague School. He is noted especially for his watercolours. Biography Hendrik Jo ...

(1824-1903) and Paul Gabriel (1828-1903)—both are in the tradition of

Jacob van Ruisdael Jacob Isaackszoon van Ruisdael (; 1629 – 10 March 1682) was a Dutch painter, draughtsman, and etcher. He is generally considered the pre-eminent landscape painter of the Dutch Golden Age, a period of great wealth and cultural achi ...

(1630-1681). Very well known are the landscape paintings from the surrounding of Kortenhoef. He is primarily concerned with inland fishing themes, too. He also immortalized the old quarter of the township and followed the

, but he didn't follow their black period. In the 1920s, he discovered the bright, light village face. In the color palette, he follows Jan Vermeer and Gerrit Adriaensz. Berckheyde. He belonged to the Kortenhoef School and the

. He has been an amateur photographer, too.See also Carole Denninger-Schreuder, page 78. He became a member of

Arti et Amicitiae Arti et Amicitiae (lat .: For Art and Friendship) is a Dutch artist's society founded in 1839, and located on the Rokin in Amsterdam. The Society (also called Arti for short) has played a key role in the Netherlands art scene and in particular i ...

.Bernard van Beek
in the

RKD The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: RKD-Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center i ...

Van Beek died in 1941 at the age of 66 years.

Expositions

* 1903 Stedelijke internationale tentoonstelling van kunstwerken van levende meesters, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. * 1907 Stedelijke internationale tentoonstelling van kunstwerken van levende meesters, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. * 1912 Stedelijke internationale tentoonstelling van kunstwerken van levende meesters, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.

Selected bibliography

Books

* Carole Denninger-Schreuder: ''De onvergankelijke kijk op Kortenhoef : een schilderdorp in beeld'', uitgeverij Thoth Bussum, 1998, , page 78 - 82.

Gallery

File:Van Beek Straat in Brugge.jpg, Street in Bruges (about 1910). File:Van Beek Maassluis.jpg, House in the town (about 1920). File:Bernard van beek Voorburgwal.jpg, Voorburgwal (about 1920). File:Beek Boerenerf.jpg, Farmhouse (about 1920). File:Beek Kortenhoef.jpg, Footbridge near Kortenhoef (about 1910). File:Beek huisjes aan de vecht.jpg, House near water (about 1920). File:Bernard van Beek kortenhoef.jpg, Water lilies near Kortenhoef (about 1920). File:Van Beek Plassen te Kortenhoef.jpg, Fishing boats near Kortenhoef (about 1920).

References

Bernardus Antonie van Beek
on

Artnet Artnet.com is an art market website. It is operated by Artnet Worldwide Corporation, which has headquarters in New York City, in the United States, and is owned by Artnet AG, a German publicly traded company based in Berlin that is listed on t ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beek, Bernard van 1875 births 1941 deaths Dutch Impressionist painters 19th-century Dutch painters Dutch male painters 20th-century Dutch painters Dutch landscape painters Painters from Amsterdam Olympic competitors in art competitions 19th-century Dutch male artists 20th-century Dutch male artists