Broek in Waterland

 
Broek in Waterland
Image Rights & Reproductions Requirements
Artist
Creation date
Materials
oil on canvas
Mark Descriptions
L.R.: Jan Toorop 89
Dimensions
27 x 30 in. (canvas) 38 1/2 x 42 1/4 x 2 in. (framed)
Credit line
Gift in memory of Robert S. Ashby by his family and friends
Accession number
2000.156
Collection
European
Currently On View In
Robert H. and Ina M. Mohlman Gallery - H209

Broek in Waterland is a beautiful village near Amsterdam that Toorop, the most influential of Seurat's Dutch followers, visited in 1889. In this twilight scene Toorop strayed from a strict application of color theory, but he did apply regular dotted brushwork.

Toorop also endowed this vivid landscape with a strong geometric structure. The canals, echoed by the pollard willows, form receding diagonals that intersect with the ribbons of color in the evening sky. Even the figures contribute to this taut network. Gliding through the water at day's end, they may reflect Toorop's sympathy for laborers, a sentiment shared by many Neo-Impressionists.

C. Sijtoff, Rotterdam, by 1894.{1} C. van Stolk, Rotterdam, by 1928 and in his family until at least 1937.{2} (Kunsthandel Ivo Bouwman, The Hague).{3} (John and Paul Herring & Co., New York), probably by 1973;{4} Walter F. Brown, San Antonio; {5} acquired by the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 2000 (2000.156).

{1} Sijthoff is given as the owner in the exhibition catalogue "Tentoonstelling van Schilderijen en teekeningen van Jan Toorop," Kunstzaal Stedelijk Museum (Lakenhal), Leiden, 6 February - 1 March 1894, no. 4. (A facsimile of this catalogue appears in J.M. Joosten, "De eerste solo-tentoontelling van Jan Toorop," Antiek, 11 nr. 7 (February 1977): p. 577, with installation photos of this exhibition showing Broek in Waterland, p. 574.)
{2} Probably Cornelis Adriaan Pieter van Stolk [1857-1934], scion of a wealthy shipping family and member of the Rotterdam "Kunstkring". In 1928 C. van Stolk is given as the owner in "Eere-tentoonstelling Jan Toorop," Den Haag (Pulchri Studio), The Hague, no. 23; information from RKD (Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie), The Hague, via e-mail in April 2007. In 1936-36 the owner is given as "Verzameling: C. van Stolk" in Schilderijen uit de divisionistische school van Georges Seurat tot Jan Toorop," Museum Boymans, Rotterdam, 1936-37, no. 68 (ill.).
{3} Confirmed with Ivo Bouwman via e-mail in April 2007.
{4} Robert Siebelhoff's dissertation, "The Early Development of Jan Toorop, 1879-1892," Ph.D., University of Toronto, 1973, identifies the owner as private collection, New York." This is likely a reference to the dealers John and Paul Herring, who often chose to remain anonymous about the paintings that passed through their hands, see "Quiet Partners in Big Art-World Business," New York Times, 14 May 1994.
{5}IMA Temporary Receipt no. 9438.
Reproduction of these images, including downloading, is prohibited without written authorization from VAGA.

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Indianapolis Museum of Art: Highlights of the Collection (2005)

Broek in Waterland is the name of a beautiful village just north of Amsterdam. For centuries, emperors, tsars, and other distinguished visitors toured this small community of neat wooden houses, situated by a “broek,” or marsh. In February 1889, Jan Toorop traveled there with the Belgian poet and critic Emile Verhaeren. Later that year, he painted this vivid memoir of winter twilight in the countryside beyond the village.

Toorop was among several progressive artists in Belgium and the Netherlands who eagerly experimented with the Neo-Impressionist methods of Georges Seurat, whose work made a highly publicized debut in Brussels in 1887. Toorop became the most influential Dutch practitioner of the style, though his Neo-Impressionist canvases are quite rare.

The dramatic color scheme of Broek in Waterland pits the deep blues and greens of the land against the glowing hues of water and sky. Though Toorop applied Neo-Impressionist color principles selectively, he did adopt its pointillist, or dotted, brushwork. Enhancing the power of this vivid landscape is its strong geometric structure. The shallow canals form two sharply receding diagonals, echoed by the bare trunks of the pollard willow trees and intersecting the ribbons of color in the evening sky. Even the couple, with their reflection in the rippling waters of the foreground, contributes to this firm network. Gliding through the water at day’s end, they may well mirror the artist’s sympathy for working men and women, a sentiment shared by many of his Neo-Impressionist colleagues.