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Lot Essay
Executed in the year of the foundation of De Stijl, the present lot can be considered a highlight in Van der Leck's oeuvre. In 1917 Van der Leck exclusively painted 'painting pairs': the same subject mainly reduced to colour squares and rectangular shapes. His intentions in making these pairs are not very clear. In total he painted four pairs: the present lot is a study for the last pair: no. 7 and no. 8. All eight paintings were originally owned by Helene Kröller-Müller, no. 7 is now in the collection of the Wilhelm-Mack-Museum, Ludwigshafen am Rhein and no. 8 is on loan to the Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, from the collection of Mrs Van Eck-Nieuwenhuizen Segaar, The Hague.
The present lot is based on an earlier sketch from 1914 which Van der Leck made during a trip to Algeria and Spain (now in the Kröller Müller Museum, Otterloo, 'Tekeningen uit de 19de en 20ste eeuw', Otterlo 1968, pp. 185-186, no. 39.) He was sent there by Müller & Co, to gain inspiration for the commission to design a leaded window for the headquarters of the shipping and business firm at the Lange Voorhout in The Hague. The recognisability is reduced considerably, especially since there are no clear visible references such as human figures or animals.
Oxenaar writes: Van der Leck's production in 1917 was impressive: eight large paintings in four pairs: the compositions 'no. 1 and 2' (The dog cart), 'no. 3 and 4' (The exit of the factory), 'no. 5 and 6' (Arabs with donkeys) and 'no. 7 and 8' (mountain landscape with mine village). These are all paintings with loose, rectangular forms in primary colours in a free horizontal, vertical and diagonal order on a white background. Free in the sense that there is no other system than the determination of place which was suggested by the plastic natural input. (Oxenaar, op.cit. p. 124)
The beforementioned eight paintings are Van der Leck's sole production in 1917. A small number, but of immense importance for the development of his own work and of that of other Stijl-artists: Mondriaan, Van Doesburg, Huszar en Vantongerloo have used the impulses by Van der Leck all in their own way.
(C.Blotkamp, C. Hilhorst e.a., De beginjaren van De Stijl, Utrecht 1982, p. 171)
We kindly thank Cees Hilhorst for his help in cataloguing the present lot.
The present lot is based on an earlier sketch from 1914 which Van der Leck made during a trip to Algeria and Spain (now in the Kröller Müller Museum, Otterloo, 'Tekeningen uit de 19de en 20ste eeuw', Otterlo 1968, pp. 185-186, no. 39.) He was sent there by Müller & Co, to gain inspiration for the commission to design a leaded window for the headquarters of the shipping and business firm at the Lange Voorhout in The Hague. The recognisability is reduced considerably, especially since there are no clear visible references such as human figures or animals.
Oxenaar writes: Van der Leck's production in 1917 was impressive: eight large paintings in four pairs: the compositions 'no. 1 and 2' (The dog cart), 'no. 3 and 4' (The exit of the factory), 'no. 5 and 6' (Arabs with donkeys) and 'no. 7 and 8' (mountain landscape with mine village). These are all paintings with loose, rectangular forms in primary colours in a free horizontal, vertical and diagonal order on a white background. Free in the sense that there is no other system than the determination of place which was suggested by the plastic natural input. (Oxenaar, op.cit. p. 124)
The beforementioned eight paintings are Van der Leck's sole production in 1917. A small number, but of immense importance for the development of his own work and of that of other Stijl-artists: Mondriaan, Van Doesburg, Huszar en Vantongerloo have used the impulses by Van der Leck all in their own way.
(C.Blotkamp, C. Hilhorst e.a., De beginjaren van De Stijl, Utrecht 1982, p. 171)
We kindly thank Cees Hilhorst for his help in cataloguing the present lot.