Clematis tegen hekwerk: flowering Clematis

Thirty years after Van Looy's departure from Haarlem (having lived in Amsterdam from 1877-1894 and consecutively in Soest until 1907) the gifted artist, both painter and writer, returned to his place of birth together with his wife Titia van Gelder in October 1907. After the death of Titia's father, a wealthy industrialist, the Van Looy's could afford to have a house built on the Kleine Houtweg which included a studio. During the first years of their residence there, Van Looy created the present lot in the quiet and sheltered atmosphere of his garden. It is clear that flowers were a constant source of inspiration to the artist. At the end of his Amsterdam period he created an impressive work -both in size and abundance of colour- of nasturtium. After his move to Soest, his preference for big canvases still evident, nasturtium remained a recurring theme next to delphinium and poppies. The present lot is typical for his Haarlem period: next to children's portraits, he created still lives with fruit and flowers, which were modest in size. At that time Van Looy had ceased to sell his artwork, but merely used his work for the decoration of his own house. In accordance with the style of the day Van Looy's house was decorated in a dark and distinguished manner. Works like the present lot lent some colour and light to the artist's home. To enhance this effect many works were framed in a simple gold coloured oak frame, of which the present lot is a good example.

After Van Looy's death in 1930 his wife Titia ordered three small exhibition rooms to be built in the backgarden, where from 1934 the beautiful collection was on view for public: museum 'Huis van Looy'. Nine years after the death of Titia the collection was offered at auction.

We are grateful to Drs Joyce van der Smit for writing the catalogue note.