A Watercolor by Emilie van Kerckhoff

[Franz]

Emilie van Kerckhoff (Zwolle, 26.01.1867 – Blaricum, 24.10.1960), A Javanese Dancer, watercolor on paper, 294 x 168 mm., signed lower right. Purchased in Mercatino viale Quattro Venti, Rome, October 25th, 2015.

I saw this watercolor yesterday and purchased it this morning. Here is what I have learned online last night.

Emilia Maria Francisca (Emilie) van Kerckhoff was born in 1867 in Zwolle, Netherlands. She was trained as an artist at the Academy of Art in The Hague. In 1898 she settled with her life partner, the sculptress Saar de Swart, in Laren in Het Gooi, where they received from the art world personalities such as Émile Bernard, Gustav Mahler and Louis van Deyssel. One anecdote: October 27th, 1903, Mahler and his two friends (Wilem Mengelberg and Alpons Diepenbrock?) went by train from Amsterdam to Hilversum, then walked to Laren for lunch at the home of Saar and Emilie. That evening Mahler conducted The Concertgebouw Orchestra for the performance of the Second Symphony of his own.

In 1918, Emilie and Saar moved together to the Italian island Capri, in a house named Casa Surya, where they lived and worked for many years. Saar meanwhile gave modeling lessons, and also taught English to Italian boys who wanted to go to America . On August 12th,1951 Saar died in Capri. She was buried in the cemetery of the village of Anacapri. After the death of Saar, Emilie returned in 1954 to the Netherlands. She died in 1960 at the age of 93 in her hometown Blaricum.

Emilie and Saar traveled to several North African and Asian countries, including Java, Bali, Japan, India and Egypt. During these travels they produced a great quantity of drawings and watercolors to record their impressions on the places visited. In addition, they drew and painted also flowers, birds and butterflies. In 1912 Emilie published an illustrated book entitled “Java: Images of People’s Life and Industry” (Java beelden van volksleven en bedryf). Today people can admire many drawings and watercolors of Emilie conserved in the Tropen Museum, Amsterdam.

Some other words about Saar, a very interesting figure in the art history: in 1889 Saar went to Paris, where she became acquainted with artists such as Auguste Rodin, Vincent van Gogh, Émile Bernard and Odillon Redon. In a letter Van Gogh said of her: "j'ai trouvé bien du talent à cette dame hollandaise."

Yesterday, October 24th, I saw for the first time this watercolor of Emilie; in another October 24th, 55 years ago, in 1960, the artist died. What a coincidence!

(P.S.: The label of the galery dealer reads: "Kunsthandel L. Shulman...Hilversum Laren N. H.". Lion Schulman was born in Hilversum on March 27th, 1851. He was a skilled and proficient painter specialized in landscape. The King William III granted him a royal grant in 1875. Shulman was also an art dealer. He died in...Auschwitz concentration camp on Febrary 19th, 1943, at the age of 92!)

All information came from the following websites:

https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emilie_van_Kerckhoff
http://collectie.tropenmuseum.nl/defaul ... rch=P21009
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saar_de_Swart
http://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/vrouwe ... inadeSwart
http://www.gustav-mahler.eu/index.php/p ... a/277-1903
http://www.willemwilling.com/id-29/Lion ... ilder.html
http://www.simonis-buunk.nl/verkocht/de ... 12971.aspx
http://veiling.catawiki.nl/kavels/18761 ... -1851-1944

[MysteryReader]

Thanks Franz for sharing! It looks pretty and I love the bright colors!

[mbhenty]

Very nice, Franz

How did you become interested in this artist? Were you familiar with her work, or was this an accidental purchase?

Will you have it reframed?

Is that a decorative matte or is it staining I see?

Its' very pretty and would greatly benefit from a better frame and matte. At least that is my unscrupulous opinion.

Recently I became fascinated by an artist called Beatrice Turner. Ms Turner had a mansion type home in Newport, Rhode Island. When she died in the forties and the executor of her will discovered 3000 paintings in her house. Around 1000 of them were self portraits. No one wanted them, so the story goes, so they went to the dump where most were burnt. I don't know how many were saved. Beatrice was very eccentric, lonely, talented, and kept to herself. For this sake alone I became very interested in her story.

http://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/12/nyreg ... wanted=all


Interesting Franz.....

[Franz]

No, HB, it was an accidental purchase.

All I know about her and her partner Saar, and Lion Shulman (and his son David Shulman, painter as his father), and so on, came from the web in these two days.

What made me decide to buy this watercolor is not only the work itself (to be honest, pretty good but not great, IMO), but also, and especially, the fact that the artist, lesbian, lived with courage together with her partner Saar, at that time this should not be an easy thing.

All theses storys, hers, of Saar, of Lion Sulman, are very interesting for me. I am happy that you like the watercolor.

[Franz]

Hey MB. The old frame has its historic value. Look:

[Franz]

Hey MysteryReader: I am happy that you like it.