Een werkstaking: Strike of the Ballerinas

During his apprenticeship at the Rijksacademie in Amsterdam from 1871 until 1875, Nicolaas van der Waay was trained in an academic painterly style which he would keep for quite some time. Like his fellow Amsterdam colleagues, he became interested in painting city life, portraits and genre-paintings. One of his favourite subject matters was the Amsterdam orphan girls in their red and black costumes whom he frequently saw near the Burgerweeshuis. In 1891 Van der Waay was appointed professor together with August Allebé (1838-1927) at the Amsterdam Academy where he stayed on for more than 30 years until his retirement in 1927. Amongst his students were Jan Sluijters (1881-1957), Anton Smeerdijk (1885-1965), Paul Rink (1861-1903), Lizzy Ansingh (1875-1959) and Jan Zoetelief Tromp (1872-1947). Van der Waay received a lot of official commissions, including his design for the first ten guilder bill and the allegorical panel paintings for the most the Golden Carriage of Queen Wilhelmina which was presented to her on the occasion of her crowning on 6 September 1898 by the citizens of Amsterdam.

The present lot depicts a group of ballerinas probably in the Theatre Carré in Amsterdam. This painting immediately recalls French painter Edgar Degas (1834-1917), who's pictures of ballerina's have become so iconic. It is possible that Degas' work served as an example for Van der Waay. Like Degas, Van der Waay created a synthesis between Impressionism and Realism. Unlike the more realistically painted orphan girls, the present lot shows a dynamic and more impressionistic vision in the arrangement of the figures. The strong influence of Isaac Israels around 1900 on Van der Waay also influenced his later looser and more Impressionistic style, as is visible in the present lot.