Toelichting op de tentoonstelling Colour and Sun! in Domburg tijdens de opening op 9 juni 2007 door Francisca van Vloten

‘It is so beautiful outside of colour, colour, colour and sun … One gets intoxicated. The quiet is beyond words here. Your inner beauty keeps you so occupied, and outside the sun is contending with all the autumn colours …’

These words, ladies and gentlemen, were written by the Dutch artist Jan Toorop (1858-1928) in the autumn of 1908 and refered to the small seaside resort of Domburg on the former island of Walcheren, in the Dutch province of Zealand  – in fact, the cradle of Dutch Luminism as a new movement in art.

‘Colour and Sun’ do indeed characterize the exhibition in the relevant artists’ colonies in Lithuania, Germany and The Netherlands.

In Klaipeda, Lithuania, part of the exhibition has been on show, during the month of May. The travelling will end in January next year, in Ahrenshoop, where many of the works that now are available in Domburg, will be present. The Domburg Museum has the privilege to present the most extensive show – which is about to be opened, in a couple of minutes, and will last until the end of September.  
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From the moment the artists went outside to paint, the light got a special meaning everywhere along the coast in the northern regions of Europe. Our exhibition focuses on the ‘island’-places Domburg on Walcheren, Nidden/ Nida on the Curonian Spit and Ahrenshoop on the Darß, the Fischland.

All sorts of factors affect the working of the light. What Domburg, Nidden and Ahrenshoop first of all have in common is the water nearly surrounding them, which plays an important role in the reflection of the sunlight, as a relatively high salinity of the air can make the light almost transparent - the sparkling thereof on flat, open land is dizzying.

In Domburg it was in particular the French influence which led to innovation. Jan Toorop (1858-1928) and Piet Mondriaan (1872-1944) were the leading representatives of Dutch Luminism, which was based on the modern French movements in art.

Though it started as a stronghold of Dutch luminism, through the years a great variety in style was presented, from naturalism to impressionism and neo-impressionism. As the light was caught in luminist works, cubism came over with Parisian friends and expressionism was tasted through German, Dutch [Bergen NL] and Flemish contacts – all styles had free play. The linking factor was not quality, but mutual friendship, love for the land of Walcheren and the shared pleasure of painting.

But not only painters, also writers, poets, representatives of the music and theatre world, art lovers, patrons and critics for years spent their summers in Domburg.

So French influences were paramount in the colony of Domburg, but there also was a link to German expressionism through the painter Jacoba van Heemskerck (1876-1923) and her friend and patron, the art collector Marie Tak van Poortvliet (1871-1936), who owned a summerhouse in Domburg. Both women from theosophist turned anthroposophist.

Ahrenshoop had close connections to Berlin and thereby to German expressionism and sometimes French fauvism; in a few cases with a revolutionary tendency, as in Domburg. The expressive oils of Dora Koch-Stetter (1881-1968), who got her schooling in Berlin, do not show the nacreous or pastel-like effect which one often saw in Domburg, but present a warm and direct, almost vehement use of colour.

Ahrenshoop has more in common with Domburg. As an artists’ colony both existed until about 1921 and equally housed representatives of a variety of disciplines. Also, either village was known as a health plus a holiday resort and the tourists regularly included wealthy art lovers.

As an artists’ colony Nidden – the present-day Nida - has developed in a somewhat comparable way. In the middle of the 19th century, the enchanting village was discovered by painters from Königsberg, now Kaliningrad. In their wake, representatives of many disciplines followed and met at the Gasthof Blode. Among them Lovis Corinth (1858-1925), and from 1909 onwards Max Pechstein (1881-1955), who also visited Ahrenshoop.  
In the years 1909-1920, Pechstein’s expressionism determined the evolution of modern art in Nidden.
Thomas Mann had a house built in Nidden in 1930. By then, the Curonian Spit was no longer governed by German, but since 1923 by Lithuanian authority. In 1940, Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union.

Ahrenshoop became, after the Nazi periode (1933-1945), part of the German Democratic Republic. Freedom – also for the arts – came after the reunification of Germany in 1989 and after Lithuania became independent again in 1991.

Consequently, it is with much pleasure that we present the three artists’ colonies and a selection of the outstanding works that were produced in them.

I would like to thank my colleagues Ingrid Schreyer and Sabine Jastram-Porsche from Ahrenshoop, and Eva Pluharova and Zivile Eteviciute from Nidden, for their cooperation. Eva and Zivile unfortunately are not here today.

Most of the works presented are included in the exhibition Catalogue - that is the travelling works. They are described, biographies of the artists are added as well as articles on the relevant colonies.

To me the honour to present the first copies of the Catalogue to the Ambassadors of Lithuania and Germany, Mr. Verba and Mr. Läufer, and to the Mayor of Veere, Mr. van der Zwaag.

Thank you.