JAN TOOROP | Portret van Miss J. Pontifex Hall (Portrait of Miss J. Pontifex Hall)

Sale: Christie’s, Amsterdam, 11th December 1991, lot 259
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

The Hague, Gemeentemuseum & Munich, Villa Stuck, Jan Toorop: Gesang der Zeiten, 2016-17, no. 195, illustrated in the catalogue

Philip Zilcken, 'Jan Toorop' in Elsevier's Geillustreerd Maandchrift, 1898, no. 15, mentioned p. 105

Executed on cream wove paper, laid down onto thick card. The sheet is time-stained, the left and right edges are deckled and there are a number of losses and nicks to the extreme right edge. There are artist's pinholes to the centre of the upper and lower edge. There are a number of minor perforations to the paper which have been consolidated in the laying down process. There is a curvilinear area of skimming in the lower quadrant of the composition measuring approx. 12cm. There is a flattened crease and a small repaired tear to the extreme lower right corner. This work is in overall fair condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Jan Toorop was a Dutch-Indonesian painter. Born on the island of Java, he left Indonesia for the Netherlands aged 11, where he later enrolled at the Rijksakademie (the State Academy of Fine Arts) in Amsterdam. In 1886, he married a young British woman named Annie Hall, and proceeded to live between Brussels, the Netherlands and England. The sitter is likely the artist’s wife (whose full name was Annie Josephine Hall). She would have been 35 at the age of execution; at this time their daughter Annie Pontifex Toorop would have been 4 years old. It was during the 1890s that the artist developed his distinctive Symbolist style, depicting his subjects in willowy guises and working in fine and intricate lines, often floral and curvilinear, inspired by Javanese motifs. In 1894, the year before the date of the present work, Toorop was commissioned by the Dutch Oil Company to design a poster for their salad oil. Toorop’s image was an instant success: the stylised swathes of dress and hair were bold and innovative and the image soon became synonymous with the Dutch Art Nouveau movement. Indeed, so iconic was the design that it earnt the Dutch Art Nouveau its moniker ‘Slaolie’ (‘Salad-Oil Style’).

The present work is executed in the precise and intricate manner for which Toorop is celebrated. The sitter’s beautiful profile is set against a backdrop of elaborate flora, punctuated by rhythmic striations of tree trunks. Toorop’s works were to have a profound influence on Viennese artist Gustav Klimt and the present work exemplifies the expressive use of line which was to prove so inspirational for Klimt.  In 2006-2007, the Gemeentemuseum held an exhibition entitled Toorop in Vienna: Inspiring Klimt. A decade later, they held another exhibition entitled Toorop: Melodies of the Time in which the present work was exhibited.