Amersfoort masterpieces for Flehite museum

The Amersfoort museum Flehite has been able to acquire two masterpieces with the support of an antiquities association. By Albert Fiks (1908-1945), the oil painting Still life with rose and anemone (1933) and by Jakob Nieweg the 'canvas' Dahlias in ginger jar (1917) to the collection. Both paintings are among highlights of the Amersfoort artists' oeuvres.

Jakob Nieweg (Hogebeintum 1877) was trained as a pastor. He 'stood' in Ter Apel, Winsum and Spankeren, among other places. In 1914, Nieweg exchanged the pulpit for palette and brush. In 1919, he settled with his family in Amersfoort, where he lived until his death. He became a central figure in the Amersfoort art scene.

Nieweg was a protégé of the famous art pedagogue H.P. Bremmer (advisor to Hélène Kröller-Müller, among others). Nieweg, like Bremmer, was a great admirer of Vincent van Gogh. His influence is recognisable in much of Nieweg's work.

Dahlias in ginger jar is a floral still life painted against a striking purple-blue background. The background is painted in 'stripe style', the foreground realistically.

(Photo: Ep de Ruiter)

Discovery Albert Fiks

Albert Fiks, son of a poverty-stricken German widow, grew up in Amersfoort as a foster child with the Van Breda family. Until the age of 18, he signed his works with 'Bob van Breda', then, becoming aware of his true identity, with 'Albert Fiks'.

Fiks, who died at 37 from the effects of paint poisoning, went through a stormy stylistic development. He initially worked realistically, but under the influence of modern painting, which he got to know particularly in the artists' village of Laren, his compositions became increasingly abstract.

Still life with rose and anemone is counted among the most highly abstracted works in his oeuvre.

In 2006, Albert Fiks was rediscovered during a filming day of the television programme Between Art and Kitsch. In the exhibition 30 years between Art and Kitsch in 101 discoveries (from 19 April at Museum Flehite), Albert Fiks is among over a hundred exhibited 'discoveries'.