4 reasons why De Stijl is handicapped without Hendrik Valk

Straight lines, single-coloured surfaces. Red, yellow, blue and white. Representing the essence of reality. That was the aim of the painters of De Stijl in the first half of the last century. At the same time, Hendrik Valk also had this ideal. He was therefore asked by Theo van Doesburg to join De Stijl in 1916. He did not. Yet the similarities between Valk and the Stijl artists are great. The Mondrian House in Amersfoort shows with the exhibition 'Hendrik Valk in the style of De Stijl' how surprising it is when the principles of De Stijl are used in figurative art.

1 Figurative painting is not so crazy.

The painters of De Stijl did not draw recognisable reality. They adhered to abstraction as a matter of principle. Hendrik Valk did not. Reason for him not to join De Stijl. Nevertheless, he worked in the style of De Stijl. It turns out that figurative painting in the Stijl style penetrates to the essence of reality just as deeply as the lines and planes of Mondrian, Van Doesburg and Van der Leck.

2 The Style could use some humour.

Hendrik Valk's works betray a playfulness, fantasy and humour missing from The Style Painters. Humour is a way of touching essence. With a single line, Valk indicated lifelike and precise the landscapes, houses or people he saw.

3 It is the details that make the work engaging.

Anyone looking at Mondrian's abstact works has soon seen everything. It is great, of course, what the man did, but surprises are not hidden in it. That is one element Valk does focus on. See his lithograph of a vase of flowers. Hidden in the motifs on the vase are a pianist and a singer, magnificently drawn according to Valk's stylistic principles. Such a detail is a story in itself.

4 Valk portrayed De Stijl as De Stijl itself could never do.

Valk painted a masterful portrait of Mondrian. It contains lines with which he draws, as it were, a portrait of De Stijl as a whole. But Mondrian's head is also masterly in its austerity and aptness. It is not abstract, but you can look at it like an abstract painting. It is fields of colour and lines in a wonderful harmony. De Stijl appears to have an eloquence that would not have been discovered with abstract works alone. It is to Hendrik Valk's unique credit that he worked this out.

Or do Valk's 'pictures' actually distract from the main ideal of De Stijl? Can the essence of reality not be found if you stick to concrete houses, animals or people around you?

Give your opinion!

Exhibition 'Hendrik Valk in the style of De Stijl', Mondrian House, Amersfoort, 11 May - 28 September 2014. www.mondriaanhuis.nl