Jan Sluijters ('S-Hertogenbosch 1881 – 1957 Amsterdam)
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Jan Sluijters (‘s-Hertogenbosch 1881 – 1957 Amsterdam) Girl from Staphorst, circa 1915 Pencil, black and colored chalk and watercolor 255 by 185 mm. Signed ‘Jan Sluijters’ Provenance Private collection, The Netherlands Collection W.F. van Meegen, Ede, The Netherlands, 1991 Christie’s, Amsterdam, 26 May 1993, lot 222 With Hein A.M. Klaver, Baarn, The Netherlands, 1994 Private collection, The Netherlands Literature A. Hopmans, Jan Sluijters 1881-1957. Aquarellen en tekeningen, Zwolle 1991, p. 154 ill. J. de Raad, Jan Sluijters: het geschilderde oeuvre, RKD 2014 (online), 1915-II Exhibited ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Noordbrabants Museum, Jan Sluijters - Aquarellen en tekeningen, 8 June – 25 August 1991, cat.no. 102 Staphorst, Museum Staphorst, Zij kwamen, zagen en schilderden Staphorst. Jo Koster - Jan Sluijters - Stien Eelsingh, 28 March - 31 October 2020 Note In 1901, together with Leo Gestel, Jan Sluijters enrolled in the Art Academy in Amsterdam. Three years later, Sluijters won the prestigious Prix de Rome, which allowed him to travel. In 1905 and 1906, he travelled to Italy and Spain. But it was in Paris where his introduction to Fauvism became instrumental to the development of his style. In 1911, accompanied by Gestel, Sluijters visits Paris again, where he was inspired by his fellow countrymen Kees van Dongen and Piet Mondriaan. Together with Mondriaan and Gestel, they produced postimpressionist Luminism paintings, gaining him a reputation as an important contributor to Dutch modernism. In the summer of 1915, Sluijters and his family stayed in the largely orthodox Calvinist village of Staphorst. Although Sluijters had not planned to paint during his stay, he became highly productive, documenting life in the village, culminating in the painting Peasant Family from Staphorst from 1917, now in the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem. It was the melancholy and sadness of the villagers that inspired the artist to produce the present drawing. Intrigued by the extremely religious population, barely allowed to sing or experience joy by their Reformed Church, the young woman became his muse, appearing in several works from this period. By portraying the girl quite elongated and stiff, Sluijters emulated the emotional and physical immobility of the locals. The same girl, from the village of Rouveen, in the Staphorst municipality, was also model for a painting now in the Singer Museum, Laren, most likely executed in the artist's studio sometime after his visit. Jan Sluijters Girl from Staphorst, ca. 1915 Oil on canvas, 78 x 48.5 cm. Signed ‘Jan Sluijters' Singer Museum, Laren, inv.no. 98-6-1 In the painting and black and white photo, from circa 1913, the anonymous girl is dressed in daytime traditional attire. The traditional costume worn by the isolated Staphorst population is based on seventeenth century fashion. Although there is different garb for different seasons, for weddings and funerals, in general the clothing is egalitarian in that the entire community wears the same, making no distinction between its inhabitants. Since the 1950s, men no longer wear costumes but the older female population still does. Theo Molkenboer (1871-1920) Woman in Staphorster costume. Rouveen, ca. 1913 Collection Nederlands Openluchtmuseum Inv.no. AA 22712 .