Portrait painter Kees van Dongen - poet of feminine beauty

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The artist, who lived a long life, adored women, and they answered him the same. A unique portrait painter, who was a real darling of fate, triumphed over fashion, reconciling avant-garde painting with a high-society salon.

In love with women

Dutch artist Kees van Dongen was born in 1877. A young rebel and brawler moved from a small settlement to the world's largest port city. The charming young man was attracted by scenes of ordinary life, and the plots of his first canvases were the most haunted places of Rotterdam. The main characters of the draftsman's works were sailors and very colorful inhabitants of the harbor, not paying attention to the moral principles of society.

A young man in love with women draws girls of easy virtue, whom he meets in brothels. In addition, he sells cartoons of the topic of the day to local newspapers, which publish tests of the young author's pen.

Popularity and we alth

At 20Years Kees van Dongen moves to the capital of France, which captivates with an amazing holiday atmosphere. Despite the horrendous living conditions in the dilapidated and cold barracks, the young man was happy. He meets many artists and poets who did not even have enough money for coal for heating. Parisian ladies take care of a young man who has the gift of making people fall in love with him. His work attracted the we althy Marquise Luisa Casati, who introduced fashion to her favorite. Soon, the portrait painter, gaining long-awaited popularity, becomes rich.

Discoverer of a new direction

Kes van Dongen is reputed to be a real genius with an individual style of writing. In 1905, the bourgeois, receiving expensive orders, becomes a member of the Autumn Salon - an association of French artists. He opens a new direction in painting - Fauvism. This name was assigned to a small group of artists whose work struck the public with novelty. The expressiveness of bright colors, passion and emotional strength caused delight among critics who compared the authors of unusual works with wild animals (in French this phrase sounds like les fauves).

Fauves, inspired by the paintings of Van Gogh and Gauguin, declared themselves to the whole world, but soon the association falls apart, and the paths of its members diverge. Three years later, Kees van Dongen joins the new Bridge group, believing that the viewer should be influenced by contrasting colors. The last years of the artist's life were spent in Monte Carlo, where he died at the age of 91.

Expressive paintings

Geniuspresented canvases filled with bright colors to the public. These are not even just female portraits, but a real emotional explosion, conveying the impulsive beginning of the fair sex. His expressive characters are removed from the surrounding world, and rich contrasts convey the meaning of what is happening. Women on canvases have external charm. The author finds a variety of poses that reflect imperiousness, thoughtfulness or self-confidence, skillfully emphasizing the attractiveness of her heroines.

Special attention of the audience was attracted by the picture "Woman with Blue Eyes". And in fact, the mirror of the soul of a cute blonde takes up most of the canvas. Huge eyes of cornflower blue attract the eyes of men, appreciating and parted lips of a bright scarlet hue.

Commercially successful work

Researchers of the genius's creativity believe that his innovative style is a synthesis of expressionism and fauvism. This is luxury and almost kitsch chic, which the viewer liked so much. Later, the master tries his hand at art deco (a new direction in the art of Western Europe and America). Women's themes are always present on the author's canvases, but in later works frank erotica and overly bright colors are gone. The experienced painter often works on large commissioned portraits ("Portrait of Mrs. Agneli", "Portrait of Madame V", "Monsignor Alexander with his dog").

His canvases are commerciallysuccessful, but the researchers do not see in them the former power of the artist. They seem to be stylized as pictures from glamorous magazines. And in them you can feel the indifferent look of the master, who habitually draws slender backs of women and luxurious jewelry.

Expression and symbolism

The talented portrait painter Kees van Dongen himself did not associate his work with any direction in painting. He assigned a huge role to color symbolism and expressed his emotions through bright shades. So, for example, blue was responsible for the spiritual, and red meant passion. The author often improvised and paid attention to small details. The paints of the painter, who is well versed in chiaroscuro, were called "electrified" for their expression and combination of the incongruous.

Hermitage Treasure

Several paintings by Kees van Dongen, who left an invaluable legacy, are in the Hermitage, and every visitor can admire the soulful female images depicted in the author's works. The most interesting canvas is "The Lady in the Black Hat". An unknown model, whose expressive face consists of bright spots of color, portrays a music hall actress. Despite the fact that the masterpiece is filled with dark color, it does not make a gloomy impression. And black, combined with green, gives the picture elegance.

You can find the canvas in the section "European fine art", collection "French painting of the XIX-XX centuries."