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The Straw Hat, ca. 1914

  • oil paint, canvas
  • 86.5 x 65.5 cm
  • Inv. 1976-I

Public Domain

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Jean Van den Eeckhoudt was the grandson of François and the nephew of Isidore Verheyden. He received his initial training from this uncle and became acquainted with Belgian luminism and French impressionism and neo-impressionism. As a former member of "Les XX", Verheyden maintained close contacts with various artists of this art circle, including Georges Lemmen and Théo Van Rysselberghe, with whom Vanden Eeckhoudt became a personal friend. For a short time, he was also apprenticed to Ernest Blanc-Garin, in whose studio he got to know Henri Evenepoel. It is therefore not surprising that Vanden Eeckhoudt's works were initially characterised by an impressionist style of painting and a realistic colour palette. From 1904 onwards, he spent the winters in Menton, where he was impressed by the light and colour of the Mediterranean region. In order to reproduce this wealth of light and colour, he adopted a painting style related to post-impressionism, i.e. a livelier and more cheerful colour palette and a more divisionist brushstroke. In the South, Vanden Eeckhoudt maintained contacts with Simon Bussy, among others, who was a fellow pupil of Henri Manguin and Charles Milcendeau and was a good friend of Henri Matisse. Probably partly thanks to these meetings, Vanden Eeckhoudt evolved towards a fauvistic style of painting. After 1910, he would use less and less the divided brushstroke and more the colour itself to represent the brilliance of the light. In "The Straw Hat", too, it is the colours that enliven the painting and portray the brilliance of the light. The coloured shapes are also more synthesised and arranged in a supple composition, giving the whole a highly decorative character. In the next phase, the shapes were further simplified and the composition further refined. Large areas were distributed evenly across the canvas and coloured with more sober tones. During the last twenty years of his life, Vanden Eeckhoudt tried to unite the characteristics of the three previous periods in order to arrive at a more mature style. The drawing was less synthesised and took on a more lyrical character. The colours became less bright than in his Fauvist period and were studied more according to their different tones, which led to a greater sensitivity to space and atmosphere in the works.

Artist

Jean Van den Eeckhoudt RKD
Brussels 1875 - Rixensart 1946
painters (artists)AAT

Title The Straw Hat
Date ca. 1914
Period 20th century
Collection paintings AAT
Object type oil paintings (visual works) AAT
Inventory number 1976-I
Acquisition credit gift
Walter, François
Paris
1976
Current whereabouts Work currently not on display
Permalink https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/1976-I
IIIF Manifest https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/3096/manifest.json
Art & Architecture Thesaurus 25H landscapes Iconclass
300189808 figures (representations) AAT
Keywords Iconclass 25G11 groups of trees Iconclass
25G3 trees Iconclass
31D11222 girl (child between toddler and youth) Iconclass
31D130 Maidenhood Iconclass
41A6 garden Iconclass
41D221(BOATER) head-gear: boater Iconclass
41D2654 bow (ornamental part of clothing) Iconclass
48AA9831 foliage, tendrils, branches ~ ornament - AA - stylized Iconclass
61BB2 historical persons - BB - woman Iconclass
School / Style Brabant fauvism
D'Ensor à Magritte dans les collections du Musée de Gand (exposition Lodève, Musée de Lodève-Hôtel du Cardinal de Fleury, 19 novembre 2004 - 27 février 2005) / Maïthé Vallès-Bled, Robert Hoozee, Johan De Smet, Helke Lauwaert, Bruno Fornari. - Lodève : Musée de Lodève, 2004 ; Milano : Mazzotta, 2004 (p. 167-169, cat. 44)
Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : Catalogus schilderkunst ; Deel I: 14de - 18de eeuw ; Deel II: 19de - 20ste eeuw / Robert Hoozee, Johan De Smet, Bruno Fornari, Ruth Monteyne. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2007 (dl. II, p. 146-147 (ill.))
Schilders van de Méditerranée : La Grande Bleue (tentoonstelling Laren, Singer Museum, 12.09.2023-07.01.2024) / Fred Leeman, Anne Van Lienden, Jan Rudolph De Lorm. - Zwolle : Waanders, 2023 ; Laren : Singer Museum, 2023 (p.49)
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