signed “Jth Toorop” & dated
Provenance: Estate of Joan Warrior Wiebe Williamson, Edmonton, AB
Johannes Theodorus Toorop was born on the island of Java (Dutch East Indies) in what is now Indonesia. He left as a young man for the Netherlands, where he studied in Delft and at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. From 1882 to 1886 he lived in Brussels where he joined Les XX, a progressive group of artists set up as an alternative to the conservative Academic Salon. Toorop worked in various styles over the years, including Realism, Impressionism, Symbolism, and Art Nouveau. Toorop moved fluidly back and forth through various styles and sometimes simultaneously. He was a versatile artist, exhibiting regularly, and also working as an illustrator and graphic designer. In 1905, Toorop converted to Catholicism and his work became more mystic and religious, with religious works featuring more prominently towards the end of his life.
Toorop was an important contemporary of Vincent Van Gogh and Piet Mondrian, and his work is known to have influenced a number of artists, including Gustav Klimt. In 2016, the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague presented a large exhibition of Jan Toorop’s work. Toorop first drew “The Stations of the Cross” for the church of St Bernulfus in Oosterbeek (1917-1919). The theme recurs here, as does the imagery of the praying hands which can be seen in other works, such as “The Prayer” (1923 and 1924).
