Han Jansen (1931-1994) - Gezin

In Family from 1960, Han Jansen brings together three figures in a distinctly vertical composition. A standing woman occupies the largest part of the picture plane; behind her a man appears, while in the lower right a smaller child is placed. The figures overlap partially and thus form a compact group.

The depiction is figurative but strongly simplified. Facial features and anatomy have been reduced to broad color planes and sparse contours. In particular, the man's face is built from contrasting patches of blue, orange, black and white. The palette is further defined by turquoise, blue-green, ocher, cream and rust brown. The paint is applied freely and with palpable thickness, with visible brush and scrape marks that give the surface a pronounced texture. Lower right signed and dated Han J. ’60. Oil painting, dimensions of the work 108 × 43 cm; including frame 110 × 45 × 2 cm.

Artist biography

Han Jansen (Kloosterburen, 1931 – Nieuw-Loosdrecht, 1994), full name Johannes Regnerus Jozef Jansen, was a Dutch painter, graphic artist, sculptor and photographer. He was self-taught and developed a body of work that moved from figurative and abstracting subjects toward increasing abstraction. From the seventies onward he became especially known for highly abstracted landscapes in which the Groningen countryside, farms and cows frequently recur. The Wadden Sea also formed an important subject. In the early eighties, Jansen experimented with the landscape itself as an artistic medium: in his so-called wad paintings he let pigment spread over the water by the tide. In his later painting, large abstract compositions with paint splatters and misty textures appeared. In 1988 his work was presented in a retrospective exhibition at Singer Laren.