Matthieu Wiegman (1886-1971) - Albert van Dalsum

This expressive portrait of Albertus Wilhelmus van Dalsum (1889–1971), the Dutch stage actor, stage manager, scenographer and painter, was created by Matthieu Wiegman (1886–1971). The painting is executed in oil on canvas and shows Van Dalsum as a bust, dressed in a dark jacket, a light shirt and a reddish-brown striped tie. His face is depicted almost frontally, with a slightly turned posture and a direct, concentrated gaze.

Wiegman built up the face from strong, angular brushstrokes and contrasting color planes. Warm ocher, orange and red tones alternate with cool gray-blue and purple shadow areas. Especially around the eyes, nose and mouth the form treatment is strikingly expressive. The dark eyebrows and sharply defined contours enhance the characteristic facial features of the sitter.

The background consists of broad, partly transparently applied brushstrokes in rust-brown, muted purple and gray, with the texture of the canvas visible in several places. This loose background treatment contrasts with the more concentrated rendering of the face. The visible brushwork, geometrically simplified shapes and pronounced color contrasts reveal the influence of Expressionism and the painterly principles of the Bergense School.

The painting is signed lower right ‘Matth. Wiegman’. The work measures 40 × 50 cm and 66 × 76 cm including the frame.
Biografie kunstenaar
Matthieu Wiegman (1886–1971) was a leading representative of the Bergense School, an expressionist artists’ group that developed at the beginning of the twentieth century in Bergen. His work is in the collections of the Centraal Museum Utrecht and the Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar.

Wiegman studied from 1905 to 1909 at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam, where he studied under August Allebé and Antoon Derkinderen. Along with artists such as Leo Gestel and Arnout Colnot, he belonged to the defining figures of the Bergense School. His painting was influenced by Paul Cézanne, especially in the simplification of forms and the construction of compositions from powerful color planes.

His versatile oeuvre includes portraits, landscapes, still lifes and religious scenes. In 2013 his work, together with that of his brother Piet Wiegman, was presented in an exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar.
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