Charley Looking at an Album of Prints
A hand-painted replica of Jan Toorop’s masterpiece Charley Looking at an Album of Prints, meticulously crafted by professional artists to capture the true essence of the original. Each piece is created with museum-quality canvas and rare mineral pigments, carefully painted by experienced artists with delicate brushstrokes and rich, layered colors to perfectly recreate the texture of the original artwork. Unlike machine-printed reproductions, this hand-painted version brings the painting to life, infused with the artist’s emotions and skill in every stroke. Whether for personal collection or home decoration, it instantly elevates the artistic atmosphere of any space.
Charley Looking at an Album of Prints by Jan Toorop is a painting created in 1918 by Dutch artist Bart van der Leck, a prominent figure in the De Stijl art movement. The artwork depicts a young girl, identified as Charley Toorop, the daughter of Dutch Symbolist painter Jan Toorop, engrossed in examining an album of prints created by her father. The painting is notable for its use of simplified forms and bold, flat areas of color, hallmarks of van der Leck's style and the De Stijl movement.
Bart van der Leck was one of the founding members of De Stijl, a Dutch artistic movement established in 1917 that emphasized abstraction and reduction to essential forms and colors. The movement, which included artists such as Piet Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg, sought to create a universal visual language through the use of geometric shapes and primary colors. While van der Leck's association with De Stijl was relatively brief, his work during this period reflects the movement's principles.
In Charley Looking at an Album of Prints by Jan Toorop, van der Leck employs a restrained color palette dominated by primary colors—red, blue, and yellow—along with black and white. The composition is highly stylized, with the figure of Charley rendered in a simplified, almost abstract manner. The painting captures a moment of quiet concentration, with Charley seated and leaning slightly forward as she examines the album. The geometric treatment of the figure and surrounding elements reflects van der Leck's interest in reducing forms to their most basic components while maintaining a sense of harmony and balance.
The subject of the painting, Charley Toorop, would later become a notable artist in her own right, known for her work in the New Objectivity style. Her father, Jan Toorop, was a significant influence on her artistic development, and his Symbolist works were well-regarded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The inclusion of Jan Toorop's prints in the painting serves as a connection between the artistic practices of two generations.
Charley Looking at an Album of Prints by Jan Toorop is considered an important example of Bart van der Leck's work during his De Stijl period. The painting demonstrates his ability to merge the movement's abstract principles with a sense of narrative and personal connection. Today, the artwork is held in the collection of the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo, Netherlands, which houses a significant number of works by van der Leck and other De Stijl artists.
