Blauwe kar bij Blauwborgje, Groningen by Jan Altink
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Blauwe kar bij Blauwborgje, Groningen 1921

Jan Altink

CanvasOil paintPaint
80 ⨯ 65 cm
ConditionExcellent
Currently unavailable via Gallerease

  • About the artwork
    Oil on canvas
    80 x 65 cm.
    Signed and dated: lower right ‘Altink 21’

    Literature: C. Hofsteenge, De Ploeg 1918-1941 De Hoogtijdagen, Groningen 1993, p. 78 (ill.)

    With Johan Dijkstra, Jan Wiegers and George Martens Jan Altink founded the Groningen artist association ‘De Ploeg’ in 1918 to organize exhibitions of modern art and show artists and public the latest developments in art, architecture and literature. Around Jan Wiegers formed a group of Ploeg-painters who found their inspiration in expressionism. Wiegers brought the modern style back to the Netherlands in 1921 after his stay in Switzerland with Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. De Ploeg artists began to experiment with colour, wax paint and expressive form. The blue cart at Blauwbörgje shows Altinks development to a new way of painting. Initially, Altink used a grey and green palette for his post-impressionist paintings. The careful application of the colour purple at the path, the pink reflected on the city at the horizon and the blue of the centrally placed cart show the new use of brighter colours in which Altink began to work in the early twenties. Blauwbörgje was a place just outside Groningen, where the artists of De Ploeg liked to paint. In 1923, the first anniversary party of De Ploeg was held here.
  • About the artist

    Jan Altink was a member of the Groningen painters’ circle De Ploeg.
    However, he distinguished himself from fellow members by much preferring to work outdoors. He is best known for his landscapes and local village scenes, along with city views and the occasional portrait and still life. At first his palette was limited to mainly grey and green tones, but after 1924 came his Expressionist period when he recorded reality in strong, vivid colours and simplified forms in wax paint.