Featured Artists
H.P. Berlage (1856-1934) Some Amsterdam designers aimed for non-expensive products that would be affordable to a wider public. In doing so, they developed a restrained, austere formal idiom, retaining only a sparing use of decorations, which, indeed, would be applied in such a way as to accentuate the structure of the object. Leader of this so-called ‘rational’ or ‘constructive’ school would become H.P. Berlage, who had not received his education in Amsterdam but at the Polytechnic School in Zurich, whose training programmes were heavily influenced by the ideas of Gotfried Semper. Berlage convincingly demonstrated the constructive principles in both the exterior and interior of his famous Exchange Building at the Damrak in Amsterdam (constructed in 1897-1903), which is regarded by many as the first major truly modern building in the Netherlands. Apart from being an architect, Berlage was also active as a designer of furniture, carpets, various appliances, book-covers, and printed materials. Together with a.o. Willem Hoeker and Jac. van den Bosch he founded the cooperative interior design firm ‘t Binnenhuis in 1900, which was joined by various other followers of the constructive school. The ‘constructive’ school, with its austere, geometric formal idiom was, and still is, regarded by many as the most specifically Dutch contribution to Art Nouveau.
Jan Toorop (1858-1928) In addition to the ‘constructive’ school, there were also various designers and firms that took their inspiration from the fluent, waving lines of the international - more specifically, French and Belgian - Art Nouveau. Especially the posters and book-covers by Jan Toorop have a lot of affinity with the international Art Nouveau. Toorop became famous mainly as a ‘free’ painter and draughtsman of intricate symbolic pictures. His work was also appreciated in ‘constructive’ circles; Berlage actually invited Toorop to design tile-panels for his Exchange Building. For that matter, in the field of graphic design – particularly with regard to book designs – there was much more stylistic variation than in other sectors, due to the fact that, for most publishers, commercial interests prevailed over artistic ideologies.
Johan Thorn Prikker (1868-1932) Examples of International Art Nouveau proper would also be for sale in the Netherlands, a.o. at the firm Arts & Crafts in The Hague. This firm was established in 1898 by businessman Johan Uiterwijk. It was associated with Siegfried Bing’s famous art-dealer’s firm L’Art Nouveau in Paris, through whose agency Art & Crafts would sell a.o. glassware made by the American Louis Comfort Tiffany, furniture by the Belgian Henri van de Velde, and carpets by the Englishman Frank Brangwyn. The leading Dutch designer of Arts & Crafts, during its first years, was Johan Thorn Prikker. He had been educated at the Academy of The Hague, from which he was prematurely expelled in 1889. In 1892, he became acquainted with Henri van de Velde, who introduced him to the Belgian avant-garde society Les Vingts. Influenced by Van de Velde, Thorn Prikker turned away from ‘free’ art and dedicated himself to several fields of applied art. He started experimenting with, among other things, batiks, graphic design and furniture design.
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H.P. Berlage
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H.P. Berlage
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H.P. Berlage
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Jan Toorop
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Jan Toorop
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Jan Toorop
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Johan Thorn Prikker
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Johan Thorn Prikker
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Johan Thorn Prikker
