Eduard Karsen
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Johann Eduard Karsen (10 March 1860,
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 ...
- 31 October 1941, Amsterdam) was a Dutch
Post-impressionist Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction aga ...
painter, known for his moody scenes featuring villages and farmhouses; usually containing a solitary figure. He was associated with the literary movement known as the "
Tachtigers The Tachtigers ("Eightiers"), otherwise known as the Movement of Eighty ( nl, Beweging van Tachtig), were a radical and influential group of Dutch writers who developed a new approach in 19th-century Dutch literature. They interacted and worked ...
" (The Eighties).


Biography

He was the son of the
Romantic Romantic may refer to: Genres and eras * The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries ** Romantic music, of that era ** Romantic poetry, of that era ** Romanticism in science, of that e ...
painter,
Kaspar Karsen Kaspar, or Kasparus Karsen (April 2, 1810 in Amsterdam – July 24, 1896 in Biebrich near Wiesbaden, Germany) was a 19th-century painter from the Northern Netherlands who specialised in townscapes. Biography He was a pupil of Hendrik Gerr ...
. After a long apprenticeship with his father, he went to study at the
Rijksakademie The Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten (State Academy of Fine Arts) was founded in 1870 in Amsterdam. It is a classical academy, a place where philosophers, academics and artists meet to test and exchange ideas and knowledge. The school support ...
in Amsterdam. There, he became part of an influential group of young artists that included Antoon Derkinderen, Willem Tholen,
Jacobus van Looy Jacobus (Jac) van Looy (12 September 1855 – 24 February 1930) was a Dutch painter and writer. Biography Van Looy was the son of a carpenter, but his father lost his job when his eyesight began to fail. His mother died when he was five y ...
,
Jan Veth Jan Pieter Veth (18 May 1864, Dordrecht – 1 July 1925, Amsterdam) was a Dutch painter, poet, art critic and university lecturer. He is especially noted as a portrait painter. Amongst his sitters were Max Liebermann, Lambertus Zijl, Frank van ...
, and
Jan Toorop Johannes Theodorus 'Jan' TooropJan Toorop
Willem Witsen Willem Witsen (13 August 1860, Amsterdam - 13 April 1923, Amsterdam) was a Dutch painter and photographer associated with the Amsterdam Impressionism movement. Witsen's work, influenced by James McNeill Whistler, often portrayed calm urban lands ...
, he became one of the founders of the "Kunstenaarsvereniging Sint Lucas", a society inspired by the Guilds of Saint Luke which represented artists in the Low Countries during the Renaissance. Through Witsen and
Albert Verwey Albert Verwey (May 15, 1865 – March 8, 1937) was a Dutch poet belonging to the " Movement of Eighty". As a translator, staffer, and literary historian he played an important role in the literary life of The Netherlands in the late 19th and ...
, with whom he corresponded frequently, he was introduced into the literary circles of the Tachtigers. He was also 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 ...
. The year 1888 was a major milestone in his life. That was when he found himself passionately in love with the sculptor,
Saar de Swart Elizabeth Sara Clasina de Swart (6 August 1861 – 12 August 1951), whose chosen name was 'Saar' de Swart, was a sculptor born to the Dutch painter Corstianus Hendrikus de Swart and his wife, Elisabeth Sara IJntema in Arnhem, Netherlands. Life a ...
. He wrote that he could feel a barrier between them, but was attracted to her as if by "ten magnets".''Het Festijn van Tachtig''
by Enno Endt. Nijgh & Van Ditmar, 1990 @ DBNL.
As it turned out, De Swart was a lesbian. She had great sympathy for him, but made it clear that no relationship was possible. He wrote to
Willem Kloos Willem Johannes Theodorus Kloos (; 6 May 1859 – 31 March 1938) was a nineteenth-century Dutch poet and literary critic. He was one of the prominent figures of the Movement of Eighty and became editor in chief of ''De Nieuwe Gids'' after the ed ...
(who had also been enamored of her) that it was terrible to suffer such grief and not be a poet. The novelist
Frederik van Eeden Frederik Willem van Eeden (3 April 1860, Haarlem – 16 June 1932, Bussum) was a late 19th-century and early 20th-century Dutch writer and psychiatrist. He was a leading member of the Tachtigers and the Significs Group, and had top billing a ...
, who was also a psychiatrist, advised Karsen to visit his friend Witsen in London, as a distraction. During this time, his feelings changed from love to resentment and, upon returning to Amsterdam, he began to slander her. She retreated to Paris. His friend, Jan Veth, tried to help resolve the quarrel by organizing a "tribunal", but was unsuccessful. Karsen never got over it and avoided all of the people who had become involved in the affair for the rest of his life.


Selected paintings

File:Karsen begijnhof in amsterdam.jpg, The
Begijnhof A beguinage, from the French term ''béguinage'', is an architectural complex which was created to house beguines: lay religious women who lived in community without taking vows or retiring from the world. Originally the beguine institution was ...
in Amsterdam Karsen garden with blossoming fruit trees.jpg, Garden with blossoming fruit trees File:Karsen-in-het-vroege-voorjaar.jpg, In early spring File:Tuinspiegel-eduard-karsen.jpg, Garden mirror


References


Further reading

* Bram Hammacher, ''Eduard Karsen en zijn vader Kaspar'', D.A. Daamen's, The Hague, 1947.
Full text online
* Rein Van Der Wiel (ed.), ''Een droom en een scheidsgerecht'' (A Dream and a Tribunal), Querido's, 1986


External links


ArtNet: More works by Karsen.

Letters by Karsen
@ DBNL
An appreciation of Karsen
by Albert Verwey, from ''Proza, Deel X'', Querido's 1923 @ DBNL.
Selection from ''Liefde in Holland''
edited by Wilhelmus Theodorus Maria Frijhoff Hans de Waardt, Uitgeverij Verloren, 1998 {{DEFAULTSORT:Karsen, Eduard 1860 births 1941 deaths 19th-century Dutch painters Dutch male painters 20th-century Dutch painters Landscape painters Cityscape artists Painters from Amsterdam 19th-century Dutch male artists 20th-century Dutch male artists