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Lot Essay
After leaving the colonial luxury of Batavia in April 1938, Willem Hofker and his wife were more than pleased with their new rustic home, which was little more than a bamboo hut next to a boisterous Balinese village. Plans for adventures elsewhere in the archipelago were quickly abandoned.
As a portraitist, Hofker had always been fascinated by facial characteristics and features of the body, but rarely had the chance to choose those he felt inspired to paint. Willem's European portraits were almost always the result of a commission; here on Bali however, he was at liberty to select almost any model he wished, male and female. (Bruce Carpenter, Willem Hofker, Painter of Bali, Wijk en Aalburg, 1993, p. 37).
Hofker often wrote the identity of his sitters on his Balinese works. Unfortunately he didn't do so on Kind met roode hoofdoek. The girl shows similarities to two of his favorite sitters, the young Legong dancers Ni Sadri and Ni Tjawan from Klandis Kedaton, but seems even younger than these girls were in 1939. By portraying this young girl Hofker surpassed himself in capturing the beauty of youth and innocence.
As a portraitist, Hofker had always been fascinated by facial characteristics and features of the body, but rarely had the chance to choose those he felt inspired to paint. Willem's European portraits were almost always the result of a commission; here on Bali however, he was at liberty to select almost any model he wished, male and female. (Bruce Carpenter, Willem Hofker, Painter of Bali, Wijk en Aalburg, 1993, p. 37).
Hofker often wrote the identity of his sitters on his Balinese works. Unfortunately he didn't do so on Kind met roode hoofdoek. The girl shows similarities to two of his favorite sitters, the young Legong dancers Ni Sadri and Ni Tjawan from Klandis Kedaton, but seems even younger than these girls were in 1939. By portraying this young girl Hofker surpassed himself in capturing the beauty of youth and innocence.