.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Jungmann was born in Amsterdam of Dutch parents. At the age of twelve he was apprenticed to a decorative artist who specialised in schemes in churches and domestic interiors. He then entered the Amsterdam Academy, and after four years of study came to England to make sketches of London life. In 1896 he returned to Holland, making Volendam his headquarters and, as A.L. Baldry put it in an article in the Magazine of Art in 1902, 'devoting himself to exhaustive study of the varied and picturesque material which is to be found in that favourite resort of painters of all nations'. By the time Baldry was writing, however, Jungmann had finally settled in London, where he was to live for the rest of his life. He took out British nationality, and contracted an advantageous if short-lived marriage. His daughters Teresa ('Baby') and Zita were among the brightest of the 'bright young things' of the 1920s.
Jungmann was a tireless exhibitor. He made his name in England with a show of some fifty works at the Dowdeswell Galleries in 1899. Dowdeswell's also gave him later shows, as did two other commercial galleries in London, the Leicester and Rembrandt Galleries. He made his debut at the Royal Academy in 1897, and continued to show there intermittently until 1923. Meanwhile he supported the Royal Society of British Artists, the Royal Hibernian Academy and the International Society, while occasionally sending work to such regional centres as Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham, as well as exhibiting in Munich, Paris and Brussels. Although based in London, he continued to travel extensively, visiting Italy, France and Belgium and finding himself interned in Berlin in 1916. In 1904 he and his sister Beatrix published Holland, a book on their native country for which she provided the text and he the illustrations.
Jungmann worked in oils and watercolours, and also practised etching. Landscape and figure subjects were his forte, and he inherited to the full the Dutch feeling for realism and sharp observation of character. This went hand in hand, however, with a flat, rather formalised style that owed much to his early involvement in decorative painting. Baldry also hints that, like so many artists of the period, he was influenced by Japanese prints.
The present watercolour, larger than usual in size, may be one of a group of works to which Baldry refers. Having mentioned Jungmann's fondness for depicting 'picturesque Holland', he continues: 'At present, however, the artist is engaged upon a different type of work: he is preparing the material for an exhibition of "Beautiful Women", and is, with this end in view, painting a number of watercolour portraits of ladies well known in society. It will be interesting to see how he acquits himself in this new role'.
If our watercolour is indeed one of these 'beautiful women', it must date (like the article) from about 1902, which would be consistent with the style of the sitter's dress. But research has yet to show when and where the proposed exhibition was held, let alone who the beauties 'well known in society' were. All we can say at this stage is that the picture's striking Art Nouveau frame may well have been designed by Jungmann himself. Frame making and picture restoration were among his many talents. For another work by the artist, see lot 291.
Jungmann was a tireless exhibitor. He made his name in England with a show of some fifty works at the Dowdeswell Galleries in 1899. Dowdeswell's also gave him later shows, as did two other commercial galleries in London, the Leicester and Rembrandt Galleries. He made his debut at the Royal Academy in 1897, and continued to show there intermittently until 1923. Meanwhile he supported the Royal Society of British Artists, the Royal Hibernian Academy and the International Society, while occasionally sending work to such regional centres as Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham, as well as exhibiting in Munich, Paris and Brussels. Although based in London, he continued to travel extensively, visiting Italy, France and Belgium and finding himself interned in Berlin in 1916. In 1904 he and his sister Beatrix published Holland, a book on their native country for which she provided the text and he the illustrations.
Jungmann worked in oils and watercolours, and also practised etching. Landscape and figure subjects were his forte, and he inherited to the full the Dutch feeling for realism and sharp observation of character. This went hand in hand, however, with a flat, rather formalised style that owed much to his early involvement in decorative painting. Baldry also hints that, like so many artists of the period, he was influenced by Japanese prints.
The present watercolour, larger than usual in size, may be one of a group of works to which Baldry refers. Having mentioned Jungmann's fondness for depicting 'picturesque Holland', he continues: 'At present, however, the artist is engaged upon a different type of work: he is preparing the material for an exhibition of "Beautiful Women", and is, with this end in view, painting a number of watercolour portraits of ladies well known in society. It will be interesting to see how he acquits himself in this new role'.
If our watercolour is indeed one of these 'beautiful women', it must date (like the article) from about 1902, which would be consistent with the style of the sitter's dress. But research has yet to show when and where the proposed exhibition was held, let alone who the beauties 'well known in society' were. All we can say at this stage is that the picture's striking Art Nouveau frame may well have been designed by Jungmann himself. Frame making and picture restoration were among his many talents. For another work by the artist, see lot 291.