Charley Toorop

Charley (Annie Caroline Pontifex) Toorop was a Dutch artist from Katwijk. She is the daughter of famous artist Jan Toorop. Before enrolling in the art world, Charley followed violin and singing lessons. She was not schooled at an official art school. Her early works are clearly influenced by German expressionism, reminding of painters from Der Blaue Reiter such as Kandinsky. She primarily produced landscapes and portraits. After a stranded marriage, Charley was left alone with three children. Her father then built her a house in Bergen, Holland, which became a gathering place for Dutch artists such as Leo Gestel. Around the 1930, Toorop tended more towards expressive realism, depicting farmers and people.
During the Second World War, her subject became the common man and working class in the war violence. One of her most famous paintings is called ‘three generations’, a family portrait depicting three generations in her family. Her work is well-represented in established museums such as the ‘Stedelijk Museum’ in Amsterdam, ‘Boijmans van Beuningen’ in Rotterdam and the Kroller-Müller Museum.