Düsseldorf excavation, around 1912 1912

Harrie Kuyten

Oil paintPaint
38 ⨯ 28 cm
ConditionVery good
Currently unavailable via Gallerease

• About the artwork
  Harrie Kuyten was born in Utrecht. When the young Harrie Kuyten loses both parents at the age of thirteen, he goes to an orphanage. There his artistic talent is first noticed. He studied at the academy of visual arts in Antwerp. Approx. 1904-1905. Enjoyed the royal grant for 3 years.
  
  He mainly painted, drew and lithographed figures (many nudes), landscapes, cityscapes, beach and seascapes and still lifes. As a painter he is well known for the use of striking and sensitive colors.
  
  He is often counted as part of the Bergen school. While he was much more autonomous.
  Jan Juffermans' monograph states the following:
  "A spirited man with an open character, a freebooter, an independent figure, practical and alert enough to earn a good living, even in the very difficult crisis years with painting, his greatest love, for his family and himself. In the land of Van Gogh, where in many eyes all hunger, self-punishment and frustration can lead to the very highest artistic expressions, a painter with such an attitude is soon viewed with suspicion, and Kuyten's uncomplicated way of painting, his playful choice of subjects and his often vivacious color scheme certainly stood in the way of a more general recognition of his work.
  
  In Harrie Kuyten's monograph by Jan Juffermas, page 27 shows an image of a sand quarry in Düsseldorf, 1912. This work is closely related to this image. That is why I also place this work around this time as being a sand excavation there.
  
  Sources: de rode Scheen, Lexicon Dutch Visual Artists, 1750-1950: Harrie Kuyten by Jan Juffermans.
  
  
• About the artist

  Harrie Kuyten (1983, Utrecht – 1952, Schoorl), full name Henricus Johannes Kuyten, was a Dutch artist. He was an engraver, lithographer, woodcutter, draughtsman and painter. He studied at the Akademie voor Beeldende Kunsten (Academy of Fine Arts), Antwerp (1904-1905). He was influenced by the Impressionists and the French Fauvists. Kuyten belongs tot he Bergense School. He was awarded a Royal Scholarship for three years. He painted harbour views, landscapes, cityscapes, animals, still lifes, interiors, self-portraits, nudes. After travelling around several countries he settled in Amsterdam in 1914. Later on, having stayed in Austria, Hungary and Paris, he settled down at Schoorl. He was a member of Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam, and the Onafhankelijken (Independents), Amsterdam. Works by his hand are among others in Museum Kranenburgh, Bergen (N.-H.).