The Sower (De Zaaier) - JAN TOOROP

Medium: lithograph printed on cream wove paper

JAN TOOROP
Dutch, (1858-1928)

Lithograph printed on cream wove paper, 1895, Verbeek/Rijksmuseum 16 (iib/II), precise edition unknown. 8 5/ 8 x 13 in. Signed on the stone, lower right. Signed in ink by the artist. This is a superb impression with possibly the full margins. The condition is fine apart from subtle handling marks in the outer margins and small creases in the upper right corner of the sheet. This is one of Toorops's favorite prints and it's a quintessential Dutch symbolist print from the Nieuwe Kunst (art nouveau) era. De Zaaier is also quite rare today, especially in this condition. The artist used his wife, Annie Hall, as the model for this image and one face symbolizes "Het Verlangen" ('The Longing') and the other "De Berusting" ('The Knowing'). In the background at left is a mystical figure sowing. As quoted on page 132 of Dutch Modernism, The Schiller-David Collection, "In the 1890s, Toorop arrived at his striking symbolism, a personal and eclectic style based on a mixture of influences ranging from Flemish primitives, English pre-Raphaelites, Belgian and French symbolists to Egyptian, Assyrian, Japanese and Indonesian art." This impression shows probably the full sheet, as printed, with exceptionally large margins. (The printer was S. Lankhout & Cie, La Haye.) The provenance here is exceptional: With Neuer Kunstsalon Max Dietzel, Munich 1913 (inscribed in blue ink); Heinrich Stinnes (1867-1932), Mülheim a.d. Ruhr, Cologne (Lugt 1376a); his posthumous sale, Gutekunst & Klipstein, Bern, 20-22 Juni 1938, lot 1165; finally with Arsène Bonafous-Murat, Paris, and acquired from them in 2002 by a private Norwegian collector.      $12,000

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Also available from Toorop: Toorop drypoints for sale, Toorop lithographs for sale, Toorop pencils for sale, Toorop woodcuts for sale, Toorop prints for sale

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