La Bohème: Hollandse kunstenaars in Parijs 1866-1874
Tine de Liefde-van Brakel
Katwijks Museum & W Books, 2023
€29,95
In La Bohème, Dutch artists in Paris 1866-1874, the picture is sketched of the artistic, unconventional, poor, but free life of four young painters in the romantic metropolis of Paris. David Adolphe Constant Artz wrote from Paris to his patron Jan Kneppelhout. Painters, musicians, art dealers and art lovers play an important role in these letters and show a fascinating picture of the ups and downs of young Dutch artists in search of inspiration, love and happiness – ‘la vie de Bohème’.
In 1865, the painter Jacob Maris (1837-1899) and his friend Frederik Hendrik Kaemmerer (1839-1902) decided to try their luck in the cosmopolitan city of Paris. A short time later, the painter David Adolphe Constant Artz (1837-1890) showed up at their door in the bustling metropolis and in 1869 Matthijs Maris (1839-1917) moved in with the painters. They were poor but productive artistic years. In the meantime, the tuberculosis-suffering violinist Jan de Graan (1852-1874) – once a famous child prodigy – had also arrived with the painters in Paris. The musician, an orphan, was good friends with Artz, who was very concerned about the boy’s fate. The painters continued to work in Paris despite the bloody Franco-Prussian War and the Commune. Jacob Maris devoted himself to painting ‘Italiennes’, young girls in Italian costume, among other things. Kaemmerer chose to study at the Academy des Beaux-Arts and painted Scheveningen beach scenes. Artz increasingly painted Dutch subjects and Matthijs Maris made several fairy-like symbolist paintings after all the riots in Paris. It was an exciting period in Paris: La vie de Bohème.
But the fairy tale came to an end when everyone went their separate ways. In 1871 Jacob Maris returned to The Hague. Artz also decided to leave Paris for good. In the summer of 1873 he and Kaemmerer found new inspiration in the fishing village of Katwijk aan Zee, where they stayed in Logement De Zwaan. Painters from home and abroad followed their example and this is how a simple fishing village grew into a real artists’ village, now 150 years ago. IN DUTCH!
ISBN: 9789462585614
