작품 상세

Willem Dooijewaard (1892-1980), The fruit seller, signed 'W. Dooyewaard.' (lower right), oil on canvas, 76x56 cm, Provenance: -Former collection of the late Dr. P.F.J. Cuypers, Dutch-Indies. Pieter Frans Jozef Cuypers (1896 -1971) was born in Hanyang, now part of Wuhan, China. After his medical study, Cuypers moved to the Dutch East Indies in 1925 or 1926. In 1928 he was in Mataram, Lombok, and thereafter in Malang. From 1934 until May 1935 he worked as a doctor with the Public Health Service for the Central Citizens Hospital of Soerabaja. On May 2, 1935 he was appointed as Physician-Director of the Provincial Hospital in Pamekasan. Because he contracted the infection tuberculosis (TBC), he returned to Belgium in 1938 and there he followed in his father’s footsteps as a doctor in Oostham. Cuypers must have known the painters Strasser and Dooyewaard. His legacy included a portrait of himself painted by Strasser. He passed away in Oostham on 11 April 1971. ‘Before us we see a pair of gifted artists. Honest fellows with undeniable talent. Practically all of their work consists of the portrayal of personas. The Balinese people, Balinese dancers and peasant women, men with cockerels, fruit sellers. It’s a cacophony of colour, an overload of radiance and life. Look at the red rags that clothe these people, at the light that emanates all around them. Nothing broody, nothing sultry, everything is portrayed completely frankly, just as it is, without even a semblance of sensationalism. These aren’t attention seekers, they aren’t contrived.’ This is an excerpt from the review in De Indische Courant from the 10th September, 1932, reporting on an exhibition of the work of Strasser and Dooijewaard, held at the Art Society of Surabaya in Indonesia. Words of praise for their true-to-life, authentic rendering of life on Bali, with this fruit seller as a perfect example. You can imagine her sitting there, patiently waiting at the side on a busy Balinese road. The reviewer expresses his appreciation of the ‘honest portrayal’, in contrast to the idealised images produced by less talented artists to meet the growing demand of tourists. Elsewhere in this review, the journalist mentions that the works of Strasser and Dooijewaard have a great deal in common, which is understandable because, at the time of the exhibition, both artists had been working together intensively for ten years already and they travelled together. This same fruit seller with her durians and her dragon fruit, was also immortalised by Strasser from a slightly different angle. (cf. Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 1 April, 2019, no. 371),