Johan Jacob Voskuil (1897-1972) - Man en vrouw

Extremely rare museum work by the Dutch painter J.J. Voskuil, purchased directly from the artist by the well-known art collector Pierre Alexandre Regnault and lent for decades to the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. It is an oil on canvas measuring 116 x 90 cm. The painting is signed lower right with "J.J. Voskuil." It was made in the 1930s of the previous century. Provenance Studio of the artist Purchased by Pierre Alexandre Regnault in February 1931 Paul Brandt Auction House, Amsterdam in 1958 (sale of Regnault collection) lot 211 Christie’s Amsterdam, lot 438, June 19, 2001 Loans Stedelijk Museum/Amsterdam Historical Museum No. 70 History This painting was purchased directly from the painter by Pierre Alexandre Regnault in February 1931, with whom he had become friends. Pierre Alexandre Regnault (Amsterdam 1868–Laren 1954) was a Dutch businessman who built an outstanding collection of modern art in the Internationaal. Between 1914 and 1918 Regnault favored Belgian expressionists, but from the twenties he began collecting colorful figurative paintings by artists of the Paris School. By around 1925 Regnault had become financially successful enough to devote more time and resources to his collection. He befriended artists such as Marc Chagall and Ossip Zadkine and became acquainted with gallery owner Jeanne Bucher, who became his agent and tried to bring more order to the collection. Between 1926 and 1940 Regnault added about 400 works to his collection, including pieces by George Braque, Giorgio de Chirico, Kees van Dongen, Wassily Kandinsky, Amadeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso, and Chaim Soutine. From the mid-1930s Regnault assembled his collection as a semi-permanent "loan" at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, where it formed for years part of the famous "Avant‑Garde" collection. Regnault was a fervent collector and in the collection besides this painting by Voskuil, included were masterworks by international painters such as Marc Chagall, Wassily Kandinsky, and Odilon Redon, while Dutch expressionists like Jan Sluijters and Leo Gestel were well represented as well. This painting is registered in the Stedelijk Museum’s historical records under Museum/inventory number 70 with the title Circus-Pierrot with Woman. In the RKD archive the full inventory list of Regnault’s collection can be viewed, as well as the extensive correspondence between Regnault and Voskuil. In 1942 Regnault gave a prestigious commission for a portrait painting to J.J. Voskuil. After Regnault’s death in 1954 and his wife’s in 1955, the collection, with the exception of 37 works that Regnault had already donated to the Stedelijk Museum in 1953, was sold through Paul Brandt’s auction house in 1956. The original catalog of that auction will be provided. Johan Jacob Voskuil Johan Jacob Voskuil (Breda, March 26, 1897 – Amsterdam, June 22, 1972) was a Dutch painter, bookbinding designer, illustrator and resistance fighter during World War II. Johan Voskuil was a teacher in Breda; as a painter he was self-taught. In the 1920s he moved to Bergen aan Zee where he devoted himself entirely to art. He was a communist and made many political posters and book jackets, such as those for the Nieuwe Geïllustreerde Wereldgeschiedenis (1929–1932) under the editorship of Jan Romein. From his posters became known Arbeiders leest De Tribune (from the 1920s) and De Olympiade under dictatorship. He made them for the 1936 exhibition he organized together with photographer Cas Oorthuys to show true Germany during the Berlin-Germanized Olympics. Together with Oorthuys he ran the advertising agency OV 20 (Oorthuys-Vos 20) from 1932 to 1935 and also designed book bindings there. Voskuil was a member of the Amsterdam artists’ association 'De Onafhankelijken' but resigned his membership when the association allied itself with the Nederlandsche Kultuurkamer in late 1941/early 1942. Voskuil found an outlet with the illegal paper De Vrije Kunstenaar around sculptor and resistance fighter Gerrit van der Veen. The clown was one of Voskuil’s favorite subjects, such as the Clown with Mask (1933, Breda Museum). He also made a portrait of Wim Ibo. Voskuil married on May 5, 1938 to the German operetta singer, stage actress and cabaret artist Dora Paulsen. They had no children. After her death in 1970 he remarried on January 21, 1972 to the opera singer Ruth Horna. Jo Voskuil did not long survive. Museum work This is a unique opportunity to acquire a museum work in which the painter Voskuil, inspired by the great masters Pablo Picasso (his pink period), George Rouault, and Max Beckmann, managed to paint this unique masterpiece. Shipping Because of the size of the work, this painting can ONLY be picked up."

Estimation:€800

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