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拍品专文
The nude, and more specifically the female nude, is a constantly important, almost dominating subject in the oeuvre of Jan Sluijters (1881-1957). It was Sluijters' opinion that it is natural to paint women instead of men, because it is a pleasure to observe their nude figures. Because of the erotic charisma of Sluijters' nudes it is suggested that he had intimate relationships with his models. The painter said about this issue: "Als ik ze geschilderd heb zou ik er zelfs niet meer mee naar bed kunnen, als ik eerst met ze naar bed zou gaan, zou ik ze niet meer kunnen schilderen" (see: Jan Juffermans and Noortje Bakker, Jan Sluijters. Schilder, Mijdrecht 1981, p. 84). An exception was his wife Greet, who was the model in most of his paintings, including the present painting.
By the turn of the 19th Century, the realistic nude was not a universally accepted subject in the visual arts. There were nude women in paintings of the 19th Century, but this was accepted because of the meaning of the painting. The nude was not the main subject but rather part of a mythological or biblical setting. Sluijters treated his women as an individual subject, without setting the nude in a narrative surrounding. These paintings caused a stir in Amsterdam in the first decades of the 20th Century. Two of the series of nudes from 1911 were even removed from the exhibition of De Moderne Kunstkring in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, because of their 'indecent, offensive and unchaste nature'.
The present lot depicts Sluijters' second wife Greet van Cooten. They had met during an exhibition he had organized with Cornelis Spoor (1867-1928) and Piet Mondriaan (1872-1944) at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam in 1909. From that point on Greet posed for him on many occasions until the end of his life. From 1914 onwards his paintings of Greet changed. Because of the birth of their son Jan Jun. that year, Sluijters no longer painted Greet as an attractive female nude. Rather he depicted her as a woman whose life was dedicated to motherhood. On occasion he painted her like he did before, just as the present lot which can be dated around 1917-1918. Sluijters shows his life companion in a reclining pose. She lies on a sofa covered with colored sheets often found in his paintings. The flowers are also a returning aspect in the paintings of Sluijters. He used these as a decorative element in the ordinary surrounding of the painted model. The composition is playful because of her stretching right arm wich holds a blue drapery. It looks like she is inviting the observer, or Jan Sluijters himself, to join her on the sofa.
To be included in the Catalogue Raisonné on the artist's work,
currently being prepared by the Netherlands Institute for Art History
(RKD) in The Hague.
By the turn of the 19th Century, the realistic nude was not a universally accepted subject in the visual arts. There were nude women in paintings of the 19th Century, but this was accepted because of the meaning of the painting. The nude was not the main subject but rather part of a mythological or biblical setting. Sluijters treated his women as an individual subject, without setting the nude in a narrative surrounding. These paintings caused a stir in Amsterdam in the first decades of the 20th Century. Two of the series of nudes from 1911 were even removed from the exhibition of De Moderne Kunstkring in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, because of their 'indecent, offensive and unchaste nature'.
The present lot depicts Sluijters' second wife Greet van Cooten. They had met during an exhibition he had organized with Cornelis Spoor (1867-1928) and Piet Mondriaan (1872-1944) at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam in 1909. From that point on Greet posed for him on many occasions until the end of his life. From 1914 onwards his paintings of Greet changed. Because of the birth of their son Jan Jun. that year, Sluijters no longer painted Greet as an attractive female nude. Rather he depicted her as a woman whose life was dedicated to motherhood. On occasion he painted her like he did before, just as the present lot which can be dated around 1917-1918. Sluijters shows his life companion in a reclining pose. She lies on a sofa covered with colored sheets often found in his paintings. The flowers are also a returning aspect in the paintings of Sluijters. He used these as a decorative element in the ordinary surrounding of the painted model. The composition is playful because of her stretching right arm wich holds a blue drapery. It looks like she is inviting the observer, or Jan Sluijters himself, to join her on the sofa.
To be included in the Catalogue Raisonné on the artist's work,
currently being prepared by the Netherlands Institute for Art History
(RKD) in The Hague.