Johannes Theodorus 'Jan' Toorop
[Jan Toorop]
Netherlands Institute for Art History, 2014. Retrieved on 18 February 2015. (; 20 December 1858 – 3 March 1928) was a
Dutch-
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
n
painter, who worked in various styles, including
Symbolism,
Art Nouveau, and
Pointillism. His early work was influenced by the
Amsterdam Impressionism
Amsterdam Impressionism was an Art, art movement in late 19th-century Holland. It is associated especially with George Hendrik Breitner and is also known as the ''School of August Allebé, Allebé''.
The innovative ideas about painting of the Fre ...
movement.
Biography
Johannes Theodorus Toorop was born on 20 December 1858 in
Purworejo on the island of
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...
in the
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, whic ...
(present-day
Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
).
His father was Christoffel Theodorus Toorop, a civil servant, and his mother was Maria Magdalena Cooke.
[ B. H. Spaanstra-Polak]
Toorop, Jean Theodoor (1858–1928)
''Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland'', 2013. Retrieved on 18 February 2015. He was the third of five children and lived on the island of
Bangka near
Sumatra
Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
until he was nine years old.
[Johannes (Jan) Theodoor Toorop]
''Biografisch Woordenboek Gelderland'', 2004. Retrieved on 18 February 2015. He was then sent to school in
Batavia on Java.
In 1869 he left Indonesia for the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, where he studied in
Delft
Delft () is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, and The Hague, to the northwest. Together with them, it is part of both the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolita ...
and
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 has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...
. In 1880 he became a student 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. 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.
[Delevoy, Robert L. (1978) Symbolists and Symbolism. Skira/Rizzoli International Publications, Inc., New York, 230 pp. ] From 1882 to 1886 he lived in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
where he joined
Les XX
''Les XX'' ( French; "''Les Vingt''"; ; ) was a group of twenty Belgian painters, designers and sculptors, formed in 1883 by the Brussels lawyer, publisher, and entrepreneur Octave Maus. For ten years, they held an annual exhibition of their ar ...
(Les Vingts), a group of artists centred on
James Ensor. Toorop worked in various styles during these years, such as
Realism
Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to:
In the arts
*Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts
Arts movements related to realism include:
* Classical Realism
*Literary realism, a mov ...
,
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passa ...
Neo-Impressionism
Neo-Impressionism is a term coined by French art critic Félix Fénéon in 1886 to describe an art movement founded by Georges Seurat. Seurat's most renowned masterpiece, ''A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte'', marked the begi ...
and
Post-Impressionism
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 ...
.
After his marriage to Annie Hall, a British woman, in 1886, Toorop alternated his time between
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
, 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.
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
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
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
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...
in the Netherlands.
His daughter
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. ...
(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
Museum de Fundatie () is a museum for the visual arts in Zwolle, Netherlands. Museum de Fundatie forms part of the Hannema-de Stuers Foundation, to which Kasteel het Nijenhuis in Heino also belongs. Museum de Fundatie possesses a collection of v ...
,
Zwolle,
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
*
Kröller-Müller Museum
Works
Annie Hall te Lissadell, Surrey Rijksmuseum SK-C-1666.jpeg, ''Portrait of Annie Toorop-Hall'' (1885)
JanToorop-trio-fleuri-1886.jpg, ''Trio fleuri'' (1886)
The Sea 1887 Jan Toorop.jpg, ''The Sea'' (1887)
File:1887 Toorop Na de werkstaking anagoria.JPG, ''After the Strike'' ( 1888–1890)
Toorop-broek.jpg, ''Broek in Waterland
Broek in Waterland is a village in the province of North Holland, Netherlands with a population of about 2,745 inhabitants as of 2021. It is a part of the municipality of Waterland, and is situated about 8 km south of Purmerend and 8 km ...
'' (1889)
File:1889 Toorop Brug in Londen anagoria.JPG, ''Bridge in London'' (1889)
File:Jan Toorop - The New Generation - Google Art Project.jpg, ''The New Generation'' (1892)
File:Toorop, De drie bruiden, 78x98 non bruid helbruid.jpg, ''The Three Brides'' (1893)
File:1900 Toorop Dr. Timmermann anagoria.JPG, ''The connoisseur of prints (Dr. Aegidius Timmermann)'' (1900)
Jan Toorop - Portret van Marie Jeanette de Lange 001.JPG, ''Portrait of Marie Jeanette de Lange'' (1900)
File:De schelpenvisser Rijksmuseum SK-A-3349.jpeg, ''The Shell Fisher'' (1904)
File:Dunes and sea in Zoutelande, by Jan Toorop.jpg, ''Dunes and sea in Zoutelande'' (1907)
File:Jan Toorop - The Schelde near Veere - Google Art Project.jpg, ''The Schelde near Veere'' (1907)
Johann Heinrich Schrörs (1852-1928), by Jan Toorop.jpg, ''Portrait of Johann Heinrich Schrörs'' (1911)
File:Otto Lanz.jpg, ''Portrait of Otto Lanz'' (1927)
File:Toorop-self.jpg, Self-portrait (1927)
Delftsche Slaolie.jpeg, ''Delftsche Slaolie'' elft Salad Oil(1893)
VrouwenarbeidLoten.jpg, Poster for lottery tickets for the ''Tentoonstelling van Vrouwenarbeid'', The Hague (1898)
Psyche.jpg, Book cover (1916) of ''Psyche'' (1898), a fairy tale written by Louis Couperus
File:Levensverzekeringsmaatschappij Arnhem.jpeg, ''Levensverzekering-maatschappij Arnhem'' rnhem Life Insurance Company(1900)
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.
External links
Jan Toorop Research Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toorop, Jan
Art Nouveau painters
Dutch Impressionist painters
Dutch people of Indonesian descent
Dutch people of British descent
People from Central Java
Post-impressionist painters
Symbolist painters
1858 births
1928 deaths
Indo people
Delft University of Technology alumni
People from Purworejo Regency
Dutch Roman Catholics
Dutch stamp designers