Johan van Hell artwork • painting • for sale Three grazing horses
Johan van Hell
Amsterdam 1889-1952
1889-1952
Three grazing horses
oil on canvas 60.5 x 80.5 cm, signed l.c. and dated 1926
This painting is for sale.
Price: € 49,000
Literature: tent.cat. Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, 'Catalogus van schilderijen, beeldhouwwerken, teekeningen en grafische werken, tentoongesteld door de Vereeniging van Nederlandsche Beeldende Kunstenaren 'De Brug'', 1926, cat.nr. 83; Tineke Reijnders e.a., 'Johan van Hell 1889-1952', Warnsveld 2005, pag. 29, pag. 87, cat.nr. S 83 (met afb. in kleur); tent.cat. Kortenhoef, Oude School Kortenhoef, 'Man en paard in de moderne kunst', 2010, pag. 28.
Exhibited: Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, 'Schilderijen, beeldhouwwerken, teekeningen en grafische werken, tentoongesteld door de Vereeniging van Nederlandsche Beeldende Kunstenaren 'De Brug'', 20 nov.-13 dec. 1926; Arnhem, Museum voor Moderne Kunst, 'Van de straat - het sociaal engagement van Johan van Hell (1889-1952)', 12 nov. 2005-12 febr. 2006; Kortenhoef, Oude School Kortenhoef, 'Man en paard in de moderne kunst', 29 mei-20 juni 2010.
Horses are multifunctional. Today they are mainly kept for hobby and sport, in the past they were indispensable forces on the land for tillage and harvesting. The painter-musician Johan van Hell did in the 20th century somewhat different from its romantic colleagues in the 19th century. Like a template, the horses have been cut out, duplicated and placed in a triangle, eliminating any space illusion. The horizon is reduced to a narrow ribbon. Van Hell was a socialist. He wanted to simplify his subjects in such a way that every worker and illiterate could understand them.
© Simonis & Buunk
