Girls from Zealand

The present lot was executed on the island of Walcheren, in the province of Zeeland, where the artist took up his yearly summer residence in the seaside resort town of Domburg from 1897 onwards. “Domburg and Toorop belonged together” (V. Hefting, in: Jan Toorop 1858-1928, exhibition catalogue, The Hague, 1989, p. 31). In Domburg, Toorop would find himself in the company of fellow artists such as Piet Mondriaan, Jacoba van Heemskerck and Ferdinand Hart Nibbrig, who were also attracted to the striking light and natural beauty of the landscape. Toorop and Mondriaan worked side by side. They both often used cardboard, in similar bright and cheerful colours, using predominantly pink, yellow, light-blue and green. The two young girls thus depicted are wearing the traditional costume of the island of Walcheren, with the caps with the flounce at the back worn by unmarried women.