Zaaier, tegenlicht: working the land

The present lot is part of a series of landscape paintings from circa 1925, a peak in Altink's oeuvre. Altink made his best works outdoors. As de Gruyter states: 'air and wind were essential to him. When the sun shivers 'I like to go out' (in: W.J. de Gruijter, op.cit., p. 22). From 1924 on there is a change in Altink's work. His colours become brighter and the forms more simple. Altink now developed his own expressionism; drawn along by Expressionism, which Wiegers had introduced, he remains realistic and naturalistic, depending on direct visual impressions. The use of wax paint that Jan Wiegers introduced to Altink seemed excellent for his landscape paintings and the plough men, haymakers and sowers he depicted in raw brush strokes and intense colours. Around 1925 Altink made his best work. He was extremely productive during that period.