Stilleven met korhanen

Description

This still life of fruit and poultry is in keeping with a tradition in Dutch art that dates back to the 17th century. In the so-called "pronkstillevens" or ostentatious still lifes of the time, artists were able to demonstrate their craftsmanship, especially when it came to depicting fabrics. Colnot, however, is a 20th century artist, and his coarser brushstrokes betray the influence of the expressionist movements of the beginning of the century. Rather than depicting every detail of the subject, this movement was about the expressive power of the whole.

Colnot is considered to be part of the Bergen School. Born in Amsterdam, he moved to Bergen in the province of North Holland in 1911. Here, he painted outdoor landscapes after the Impressionists and The Hague School. The group of artists in Bergen grew to include Leo Gestel, who was influenced by French and German movements such as Cubism and Expressionism. Colnot’s work would also become more expressive and, for the Netherlands, pioneering. In general his work is dark in tone, with colour accents playing an important role, as we see with the fruit in his "Stilleven met korhanen".

Colnot didn’t usually date his work. While talking to D.A. Clog in his 1943 book De Bergensche School (The Bergen School), he says, “What does it matter when you painted it? The main thing is that you did.” "Stilleven met korhanen" comes from Henri van Abbe’s private collection. It is part of the collection of 26 works that were transferred to the Van Abbemuseum at its opening in 1936.

[2020]

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