This roughly laid-out work is painted after an example by David Schulman (1881-1966). Schulman belonged to the second generation of artists of the so-called Larense School. The Larense School is the name for a group of painters who worked in and around Laren (North Holland) at the end of the 19th and early 20th century. Around 1870 it was the now more famous painter Jozef Israëls who put Laren on the map as a painter’s village. He was one of the artists of the Haagse School. The painters of the Haagse, Hague School had reacted against the then prevailing romantic tradition in which the world was depicted in an idealized way. The Hague School is characterized by a realistic, often gray depiction of Dutch landscapes. The Laren school continued to build on this.
Israel’s enthusiasm for Laren led to a group of painters settling there. At the turn of the century there was a group of new young artists, including Schulman, who would later become known as the ‘second generation’ of painters of the Laren school. In 1903 they founded the Gooische painters’ association ‘De Tien’, ‘The Ten’ which was committed to increasing the market for their art by organizing exhibitions in the country. In 1921 they founded the ‘Vereeniging van Beeldende Kunstenaars van Laren Blaricum’ (Association of Visual Artists of Laren Blaricum), from which Schulman split again in 1935 with the Gooische Schildersvereniging (The Gooische Painters Association) for which admission was subject to stricter artistic entry requirements. The fame of the Laren artists has certainly been dealt with, whether or not in line with the Hague School.
The central object here, a winter view with Gooische farms in the snow, was made between 1940 and 1980 as a practice piece, most likely after a painting by Schulman from around 1930. The painter is unknown, although at the back of the list the name Schellekens is written in pencil. It is painted very roughly; the paint was applied with a palette knife. The question is whether the maker would have been allowed to join Schulmans Gooische painters’ association. However, his art did served as inspiration, indicating Schulman succeeded in his mission to spread Laren art!
Dimensions list: width 60.5, height 50.5 cm.
75 € (incl. valuation report)
