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Cornelis Theodorus Maria "Kees" van Dongen (26 January 1877 – 28 May 1968) was a Dutch-French painter who was one of the leading Fauves. Van Dongen's early work was influenced by 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 realist painters of the French Barbizon school. The painters of the Hague school generally made use of relat ...
and symbolism and it evolved gradually into a rough pointillist style. From 1905 onwards – when he took part at the controversial 1905
Salon d'Automne The Salon d'Automne (; en, Autumn Salon), or Société du Salon d'automne, is an art exhibition held annually in Paris, France. Since 2011, it is held on the Champs-Élysées, between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, in mid-October. The ...
exhibition – his style became more and more radical in its use of form and colour. The paintings he made in the period of 1905–1910 are considered by some to be his most important works. The themes of his work from that period are predominantly centered on the nightlife; he paints dancers, singers, masquerades, and theatre. Van Dongen gained a reputation for his sensuous – at times garish – portraits of especially women.


Life and work

Kees van Dongen was born in
Delfshaven Delfshaven is a borough of Rotterdam, Netherlands, on the right bank of river Nieuwe Maas. It was a separate municipality until 1886. The town of Delfshaven grew around the port of the city of Delft. Delft itself was not located on a major ...
, then on the outskirts, and today a borough, of
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte (river), Rotte'') is the second largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the Prov ...
. He was the second of four children in a middle-class family. In 1892, at age 16, Kees van Dongen started his studies at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Rotterdam, working with J. Striening and J.G. Heyberg.Russell T. Clement, ''Les Fauves: A Sourcebook''
Greenwood Publishing Group, 1994, pp. 467-468, 471, accessed 1 February 2013
During this period (1892–97), Van Dongen frequented the Red Quarter seaport area, where he drew scenes of sailors and prostitutes. He met Augusta Preitinger at the Academy, a fellow painter. In 1897, Van Dongen lived in Paris for several months, where there was a large emigre community. In December 1899, he returned from Rotterdam to Paris, where Preitinger had moved before him and found work.


Marriage and family

He returned to join Augusta Preitinger ("Guus"), whom he had met at the Academy. They married on 11 July 1901. They had two children together: a son died a couple of days after birth in December 1901; their daughter Augusta, called "Dolly", was born 18 April 1905. Around that time, Van Dongen produced a painting of
Fernande Olivier Fernande Olivier (born Amélie Lang; 6 June 1881 – 29 January 1966) was a French artist and model known primarily for having been the model and first muse of painter Pablo Picasso, and for her written accounts of her relationship with him. Pic ...
, which was the reason why — according to
Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the Allegheny West neighborhood and raised in Oakland, California, Stein moved to Paris ...
in her 1933 book ''
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas ''The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas'' is a book by Gertrude Stein, written in October and November 1932 and published in 1933. It employs the form of an autobiography authored by Alice B. Toklas, her life partner. In 1998, Modern Library rank ...
'' — he ''broke into notoriety''. Apparently, according to Stein: Guus took Dolly to see their families in Rotterdam in the summer of 1914, where they were caught by the outbreak of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
. They were not able to return to Paris until 1918. Preitinger and Van Dongen divorced in 1921. In 1917, Van Dongen had become involved with a married socialite, the fashion director Léa Alvin, also known as Jasmy Jacob. Their relationship lasted until 1927.


Career

Van Dongen began to exhibit in Paris, and participated in the controversial 1905
Salon d'Automne The Salon d'Automne (; en, Autumn Salon), or Société du Salon d'automne, is an art exhibition held annually in Paris, France. Since 2011, it is held on the Champs-Élysées, between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, in mid-October. The ...
exhibition along with
Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prim ...
,
André Derain André Derain (, ; 10 June 1880 – 8 September 1954) was a French artist, painter, sculptor and co-founder of Fauvism with Henri Matisse. Biography Early years Derain was born in 1880 in Chatou, Yvelines, Île-de-France, just outside Paris. In ...
,
Albert Marquet Albert Marquet (27 March 1875 – 14 June 1947) was a French painter, associated with the Fauvist movement. He initially became one of the Fauve painters and a lifelong friend of Henri Matisse. Marquet subsequently painted in a more naturali ...
, Maurice de Vlaminck,
Charles Camoin Charles Camoin (; 23 September 1879 – 20 May 1965) was a French expressionist landscape painter associated with the Fauves. ''Les Fauves: A Sourcebook'', by Russell T. Clement, p. 2, web: -->&lpg=PA2 Google Books Born in Marseille, Franc ...
, and
Jean Puy Jean Puy (8 November 1876 in Roanne, Loire – 6 March 1960 in Roanne) was a French Fauvist artist. Life and work He studied architecture at the École nationale des beaux-arts de Lyon and painting with Jean-Paul Laurens at l'Académie Julian ...
. The bright colours of this group of artists led to them being called '' Fauves'' ('Wild Beasts') by art critic
Louis Vauxcelles Louis Vauxcelles (born Louis Meyer; 1 January 187021 July 1943) was a French art critic. He is credited with coining the terms '' Fauvism'' (1905) and ''Cubism'' (1908). He used several pseudonyms in various publications: Pinturrichio, Vasari, ...
.Louis Vauxcelles, ''Le Salon d'Automne'', Gil Blas, 17 October 1905. Screen 5 and 6. Gallica, Bibliothèque nationale de France
Van Dongen was also briefly a member of the German
Expressionist 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 radi ...
group '' Die Brücke.'' In these years, he was part of an avant-garde wave of painters, including Maurice de Vlaminck, Othon Friesz,
Henri Rousseau Henri Julien Félix Rousseau (; 21 May 1844 – 2 September 1910)
at the Robert Delaunay Robert Delaunay (12 April 1885 – 25 October 1941) was a French artist who, with his wife Sonia Delaunay and others, co-founded the Orphism art movement, noted for its use of strong colours and geometric shapes. His later works were more abstra ...
, Albert Marquet,
Édouard Vuillard Jean-Édouard Vuillard (; 11 November 186821 June 1940) was a French painter, decorative artist and printmaker. From 1891 through 1900, he was a prominent member of the Nabis, making paintings which assembled areas of pure color, and interior sc ...
, who aspired to a renewal of painting which they thought was stuck in
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 ...
. In 1906, Preitinger and Van Dongen moved to the Bateau Lavoir at 13 rue Ravignan in
Montmartre Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...
, where they were friends with the circle surrounding
Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
and his girlfriend
Fernande Olivier Fernande Olivier (born Amélie Lang; 6 June 1881 – 29 January 1966) was a French artist and model known primarily for having been the model and first muse of painter Pablo Picasso, and for her written accounts of her relationship with him. Pic ...
.Stein, Gertrude.
The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas
'', Chapter 2.
He taught at the
Académie Vitti The Académie Vitti was an art school in Paris, France. It was founded and operated by a family of Italian artists' models from the Valle di Comino to the south of Rome. The academy was progressive in its support for women artists, and gained a hi ...
in 1912. In addition to selling his paintings, Van Dongen also gained an income by selling satirical sketches to the newspaper ''Revue Blanche.'' He also organised very successful costume balls in Montparnasse, to which people paid admission, to gain extra income. After the First World War, under the influence of his companion, the fashion director Lea Alvin (Jasmy Jacob), among others, Van Dongen developed the lush colours of his Fauvist style. This earned him a solid reputation with the French bourgeoisie and upper class, where he was in demand for his portraits. As a fashionable portraitist, he was commissioned for subjects including Arletty,
Louis Barthou Jean Louis Barthou (; 25 August 1862 – 9 October 1934) was a French politician of the Third Republic who served as Prime Minister of France for eight months in 1913. In social policy, his time as prime minister saw the introduction (in Jul ...
,
Sacha Guitry Alexandre-Pierre Georges "Sacha" Guitry (; 21 February 188524 July 1957) was a French stage actor, film actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright of the boulevard theatre. He was the son of a leading French actor, Lucien Guitry, and follo ...
,
Leopold III of Belgium Leopold III (3 November 1901 – 25 September 1983) was King of the Belgians from 23 February 1934 until his abdication on 16 July 1951. At the outbreak of World War II, Leopold tried to maintain Belgian neutrality, but after the German invas ...
,
Anna de Noailles Anna, Comtesse Mathieu de Noailles (Anna Elisabeth Bibesco-Bassaraba de Brancovan) (15 November 1876 – 30 April 1933) was a French writer of Romanian and Greek descent, a poet and a socialist feminist. Biography Personal life Born Princess ...
, Madame Grès and
Maurice Chevalier Maurice Auguste Chevalier (; 12 September 1888 – 1 January 1972) was a French singer, actor and entertainer. He is perhaps best known for his signature songs, including " Livin' In The Sunlight", " Valentine", " Louise", " Mimi", and " Thank H ...
. With a playful cynicism he remarked of his popularity as a portraitist with high society women, "The essential thing is to elongate the women and especially to make them slim. After that it just remains to enlarge their jewels. They are ravished."Dossier pédagogique, Service culturel, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Mars 2011
/ref> This remark is reminiscent of another of his sayings: "Painting is the most beautiful of lies". In 1957, Kay Thompson featured one of his paintings in her book ''Eloise in Paris''. The social and commercial appeal of his later work (such as a 1959 portrait of
Brigitte Bardot Brigitte Anne-Marie Bardot ( ; ; born 28 September 1934), often referred to by her initials B.B., is a former French actress, singer and model. Famous for portraying sexually emancipated characters with hedonistic lifestyles, she was one of the ...
in a little black dress, with her hair tousled) did not match the artistic promise or the
bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...
eroticism of his first three decades of work. From 1959, Kees van Dongen lived in
Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
. He died in his home in
Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...
in 1968. An extensive collection of van Dongen's work is held by the New National Museum of Monaco. His work was also part of the painting event in the art competition at the
1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held duri ...
.


Selected works

File:Kees van Dongen, c.1907, Femme aux bas noirs (Woman with Black Stockings), oil on canvas, 129.5 x 195.5 cm.jpg, ''Femme aux bas noirs'' (''Woman with Black Stockings''), c. 1907, oil on canvas, File:Kees Van Dongen, 1907-08, Les lutteuses (Lutteuses du Tabarin), oil on canvas, 105.5 x 164 cm, Nouveau Musée National de Monaco.jpg, ''Les lutteuses'' (''Lutteuses du Tabarin''), 1907–08, oil on canvas, , Nouveau Musée National de Monaco File:Kees van Dongen, 1911, Lucie and her Partner, oil on canvas, 130 x 96.5 cm, Hermitage Museum.jpg, ''Lucie and her Dance-Partner'', 1911, oil on canvas, ,
Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the larges ...
File:Kees van Dongen, 1919, Le lévrier bleu (Le chien bleu, Portrait de Mlle Dumarest), oil on canvas, 195 x 97 cm.jpg, ''Le lévrier bleu'' (''Le chien bleu, Portrait de Mlle Dumarest''), 1919, oil on canvas, File:Kees van Dongen, c.1907-08, The Dancer Anita, oil on canvas, 130.5 x 97 cm, National Gallery of Denmark.jpg, ''The Dancer Anita'', c. 1907–08, oil on canvas, ,
National Gallery of Denmark The National Gallery of Denmark ( da, Statens Museum for Kunst, also known as "SMK", literally State Museum for Art) is the Danish national gallery, located in the centre of Copenhagen. The museum collects, registers, maintains, researches and ha ...
File:Kees van Dongen, 1911, La Femme au Jabot (Woman with Frill), oil on canvas, 98 cm x 79 cm.jpg, ''La Femme au Jabot'' (''Woman with Frill''), c. 1911, oil on canvas, File:Kees van Dongen, c.1919, La robe rose (Ève Francis), oil on canvas, 146.5 x 114.3 cm.jpg, ''La robe rose'' (''Ève Francis''), c. 1919, oil on canvas, File:Kees van Dongen, before 1920, La femme au foulard, oil on canvas, 92.5 x 73.5 cm.jpg, ''La femme au foulard'', before 1920, oil on canvas, File:Kees van Dongen, before 1920, Mme Jasmy Alvin, oil on canvas, 195 x 131.5 cm, Musée national d'art moderne.jpg, ''Mme Jasmy Alvin'', before 1920, oil on canvas, , Musée national d'art moderne File:Kees van Dongen, 1920, Le sphinx, oil on canvas, 146 x 113 cm, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.jpg, ''The Sphinx'', 1920, oil on canvas, , Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris File:Kees van Dongen, 1920, La Baigneuse, Deauville, oil on canvas, 195 x 129 cm.jpg, ''La Baigneuse, Deauville'', 1920, oil on canvas,


Honours

* 1926, Knight of the
Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleo ...
* 1927, Order of the Crown of Belgium * 1929, the French government awarded him citizenship * 1954, Officer of the Legion of Honour


References and sources

;References ;Sources * *


Further reading

* *


External links


Kees van Dongen's Cats



''All Eyes on Kees van Dongen
'', video at Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (Arttube)
Kees van Dongen
videos at Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (Arttube) {{DEFAULTSORT:Dongen, Kees Van 1877 births 1968 deaths 20th-century Dutch painters Dutch male painters Painters from Rotterdam People of Montmartre Fauvism Willem de Kooning Academy alumni Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Recipients of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Olympic competitors in art competitions 20th-century Dutch male artists