Johan Jacob Voskuil (1897-1972) - Surrealistisch stilleven

Extremely rare museum-quality work by the Dutch painter J.J. Voskuil (Johan Voskuil) from the early 1930s. It is an oil on canvas with dimensions 65.3 x 81.5 cm. The painting is signed lower right with "J.J. Voskuil". It was made in the 1930s of the previous century. A label from the Fa. Van Beek of Amsterdam on the stretcher dates from the 1930s, and presumably Johan Voskuil purchased the stretcher frame there at the time.

Provenance

Atelier of the artist
Private collection Laren
Aleph Art Gallery

Exhibitions

The Independents (Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam) 1934
The Olympiad Under Dictatorship (D.O.O.D) 1936

Johan Jacob Voskuil

Johan Jacob Voskuil (Breda, March 26, 1897 – Amsterdam, June 22, 1972) was a Dutch painter, bookbinder designer, illustrator, and resistance fighter during World War II.

Johan Voskuil was a teacher in Breda; as a painter he was self-taught. In the 1920s he moved to Bergen aan Zee where he devoted himself entirely to art. He was a communist and produced many political posters and book jackets, such as those for the Nieuwe Geïllustreerde Wereldgeschiedenis (1929-1932) under the editorship of Jan Romein. From his posters, Arbeiders leest De Tribune (from the 1920s) and De Olympiade onder dictatuur became well known. He made them for the exhibition he organized in 1936 together with photographer Cas Oorthuys to show the real Germany during the Berlin Olympiad under Nazi rule. Together with Oorthuys, from 1932 to 1935 he ran the advertising agency OV 20 (Oorthuys-Vos 20) and also designed book covers there.

Voskuil was a member of the Amsterdam artists’ association 'De Onafhankelijken' (The Independents), but resigned his membership when the association aligned with the Nederlandsche Kultuurkamer at the end of 1941/beginning of 1942. Voskuil found affiliation with the illegal paper De Vrije Kunstenaar around sculptor and resistance fighter Gerrit van der Veen. The clown was one of Voskuil’s favorite subjects, such as Clown with mask (1933, Breda’s Museum). He also made a portrait of Wim Ibo.

Voskuil married on May 5, 1938 to the German operetta singer, stage actress, and cabaret performer Dora Paulsen. They had no children. After her death in 1970 he remarried on January 21, 1972 to the opera singer Ruth Horna. Jo Voskuil died not long after.

Museum work

This is a unique opportunity to acquire a museum-grade work in which the painter Voskuil, inspired by the Surrealists, managed to paint this unique masterwork.