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Henri Verstijnen, 1880-1940. Beeldend kunstenaar en theosoof

Henri Verstijnen, 1880-1940. Beeldend kunstenaar en theosoof
Author(s):Audrey Wagtberg Hansen, Andrea Kroon
Publisher: Waanders
More information: http://www.kunstboeken.nl/boeken.asp?zoekterm=verstijnen&zoekveld=&rubriek=

This publication is dedicated to the Dutch artist Henri Verstijnen (1882-1940), whose diverse body of artistic and commercial work enjoyed great popularity during his lifetime, but has been all but forgotten since 1940. His life and career are characteristic of a Dutch artist in the interbellum. Born in an upper middle-class family in the Dutch East Indies, he was torn between his high artistic ideals and the need to provide for his family by accepting commercial commissions. He came into contact with many of the new, idealistic organizations that were reforming society’s social and religious landscape around 1900. The artist, his brother and sister, as well as many of their friends and clients shared an interest in theosophy, spiritualism and vegetarianism or had contacts with anti-vivisectionist, utopian or social-anarchist organizations. Verstijnen’s personal archives offer an insight into the vast social network of an artist during the inter-bellum: contacts with patrons, art dealers, publishers, printers and a socially engaged clientele. The archives, which contain notes on his religious beliefs and recipes for experimental art techniques, are not only an important art historical source of information, but can also be viewed as an important cultural historical record. The publication discusses Verstijnens life, commercial and artistic body of work, focussing on the expression of theosophical ideas through his paintings and designs. Verstijnen started his career as a designer of ceramics at the well known firm Estié & Co in Gouda around 1900. He was employed as a model maker at the Alexandra porcelain works of Ernst Wahliss factory in Turn-Teplitz (the Czech Republic) in 1905. Between 1907 and 1932 he was associated to the Société Céramique factory in Maastricht in 1907. He produced commercial designs in Art Nouveau and Art Deco style, depicting animals and flowers both true to nature and as caricatures. Soon after 1907 Verstijnen started to accept commercial drawing commissions on a regular basis. From 1914 onwards he drew caricatures for the radical newspapers De Nieuwe Amsterdammer and De Groene Amsterdammer. He also made drawings for several advertising campaigns. In 1918 Verstijnen moved to Den Haag with his wife and only daughter Elly, where his brother and sister-in-law were already living. At the relatively late age of 36 he now embarked on a career as a painter, meanwhile supporting his income by producing commercial illustrations for children’s books and advertising campaigns. In 1921 his first exhibition opened in the Pictura art gallery in Den Haag. Verstijnen soon became a member of local artist’ societies, such as Pulchri Studio and the Haagsche Kunstkring, and would frequently participate in their group exhibitions until his death in 1940. Verstijnen’s correspondence reveals a character with high artistic and moral ideals, but also - somewhat contradictory - a modest and gentle personality. A real family man, an old school craftsman, but also a dreamer, who – as his caricatures show - was able to put his own and others’ vanities and vices in perspective. He held a firm conviction that not fame or fortune but spiritual harmony should be the main goal in life. This contributed to the fact that, although he gained popularity with a wide audience, he never attained the critical recognition that he had hoped for at the start of his career. Much of Verstijnen’s artistic work depicts the natural and animal world, in which he offers the viewer a highly personalized view on nature, entirely based on theosophical ideas. His graphics, drawings and paintings show the aftermath of influential styles around 1900: Symbolism, Japonism and Art Nouveau (Nieuwe Kunst). His choice of subject in the work exhibited in the 1920’s and 30’s connects with that of more famous contemporaries, such as Theo van Hoytema (1863 -1917), Gerrit Willem Dijsselhof (1866-1924), Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita (1868-1944) and Jan Mankes (1889-1920), all of whom regularly depicted the animal kingdom. However, Verstijnen distinguished himself by his use of experimental art techniques. He perfected the 19th century technique of drawing on scraper board to a new process, which produced striking black-and-white and colour images and fooled the viewer into believing they were woodcuts or etchings. He also invented a new, secret lithographic process, which he named ‘grafico’. Unfortunately he never disclosed the technique, which remains a mystery. When a commission was insufficiently challenging, Verstijnen withdrew into an inner world, which inspired dreamlike pictures. Although most art critics praised Verstijnen’s use of techniques, many were critical of his interest in theosophical and fantastic imagery. This fantastic element, which was exhibited less frequently, is related to the modern genre of fantastic literature and film, and was ahead of its time. Here Verstijnen used styles and colouring that would become popular in the 1960’s. However, His images of animals, caricatures and calendar prints were financially much more successful. Verstijnen’s work represents the borderline between the 19th and 20th century, between the real and the imagined world. Moreover his body of work is typical of that of an artist whose artistic choices were fully based on a Western esoteric lifestyle: theosophy. In this respect, Verstijnen’s work is similar to that of K.P.C. de Bazel, Frans Zwollo, Piet Mondriaan and other contemporaries. It represents a trend in Dutch art at the beginning of the 20th century which - undeservedly - has not yet been named as a separate movement in art history. As a socially engaged artist, Verstijnen was active in a vast network of artistic and esoteric relations, which deserves to be studied more closely. Publication details: Audrey Wagtberg Hansen/Andrea Kroon, Henri Verstijnen 1882-1940, (Waanders) Zwolle 2006, ISBN 90 400 8282 0, 128 pp., ill., € 22,50.
Publication posted by A.A. Kroon