The Jugendstil curls of the famous 'salad oil poster' adorn the logo of the major Toorop exhibition at the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag. And while this choice is recognisable and appealing, there is something to be said against it. After all, the museum is so keen to show other sides of Toorop. And there are surprisingly many of them.
The Gemeentemuseum has a history with Jan Toorop (1858-1928). In the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, then director and Toorop expert Victorine Hefting organised three exhibitions focusing mainly on his earlier work, up to and including symbolism. This is perhaps understandable from the fact that Toorop lived and worked in The Hague during the latter period. This time, however, curator Hans Jansen and guest curator Gerard van Wezel wanted to highlight the complete work. Including the later 'Amsterdam period', when Toorop had converted to Catholicism.
Art gallery Oldenzeel recreated
Toorop was a very versatile man. We see paintings, drawings, posters, book bindings, tile tableaux. There are socially moved scenes, landscapes, allegories, beautiful women, fishing scenes and religious devotion. We see early paintings with lots of brown, colourful impressionism, pointillism, symbolism, art nouveau, angular line drawings and a later, Catholic symbolism with tighter lines.
The Gemeentemuseum takes visitors through all these periods, each in a room with walls of its own colour. The best-known period, symbolism, hangs in the large central room with The Sphinx (1892/1897) as a masterpiece. There, you can also find a reconstruction of Toorop's facade design for art gallery Oldenzeel, where the artist had his first solo exhibition in 1891.
'Don't be virtuous'
Toorop's oeuvre is a nightmare for scholars. Not only did he renew himself again and again, he also returned to earlier styles in later periods or changed something about older work. A scratched-out drawing on cardboard, inscribed with the text 'deugt niet', speaks volumes.
In the catalogue Jan Toorop. Song of the Times (with salad oil on the cover again!), Gerard van Wezel still tries to bring line to it. He does so using chronology, style and theme. It is hard to fathom that this is only the first book of a three-volume oeuvre catalogue.
Children's book
Very nice is also Kitty Crowther's children's art book, Jan Toorop. The song of time. With little text but lots of images, she explores Toorop's sources of inspiration in the Dutch East Indies and Zeeland. In the accompanying children's exhibition, sketches and photos bring this to life.
Klimt and Berlage
Toorop was often ahead of his time. For instance, the Klimt-like women with wavy bodies and hair appear to have been made considerably earlier than Klimt's own Beethoven frieze in Vienna.
The greater emphasis on the Catholic period yields nice surprises. Toorop tightened his style in those later years under the influence of architect Berlage, with whom he worked on the Beurs in Amsterdam. So it is no wonder that in this Berlage-designed museum, the Catholic period in particular comes into its own magnificently. One of the highlights are some of the Stations of the Cross from St Bernulphus church in Oosterbeek.
The chronological structure is abandoned as the exhibition concludes with portraits and self-portraits through all periods. That Toorop was a very gifted portraitist is beyond dispute; Museum Het Valkhof even dedicated a separate exhibition to this in 2003. Why precisely this aspect of his artistry has been removed from the chronology, however, is not entirely clear.
It does not detract from the monumental exhibition. The visitor comes out somewhat perplexed, no doubt with a personal favourite period in mind. And who knows, that might just be that slavery style again after all.
Jan Toorop. Gemeentemuseum The Hague, 26 February to 29 May.
Until 29 June, there are also Portrait of Edith and Judith I to be seen at a special Exhibition with works by Klimt and Schiele.
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