A Self-Portrait of the Artist in his Studio

Antoon Henricus Johannes Molkenboer

(Leeuwarden 1872 – 1960 Haarlem)

A Self-Portrait of the Artist in his Studio, 1896 

Oil on canvas, 50 x 40 cm
Signed, inscribed and dated lower left Antoon Molkenboer / in zijn atelier — 1896

Provenance:
by descent within the family of the artist until 2017;
M. J. Ripps LTD, USA

(SOLD)

There is an ineluctable appeal to this deftly conceived self-portrait. The 24-year-old artist Antoon Molkenboer presents himself in his studio at Ceintuurbaan 388 in Amsterdam. Antoon’s facial features are very readily recognizable from an inscribed photograph datable to c. 1905 (Fig.1). It’s the confident young Catholic painter his contribution to a new fashion under young artists in the Netherlands depicting themselves in modern style that differentiates from the former leading Romantic nineteenth century taste, starting with The Tachtigers in the 80’s. Those painters were inspired by French Impressionism, this present painting with its differentiating and more realistic character seems to be a forerunner of new realist painters like Charley Toorop and Dik Ket, the leading artists of the Neue Sachlichkeit in the Netherlands at the first quarter of the twentieth century. 

The present painting, dated 1896, might reasonably be seen as the young Molkenboer’s ‘calling card’ to the Amsterdam art market – for as both a formal likeness and an aesthetically-pleasing object. Previously, this self-portrait had been mistakenly attributed to the elder sibling Theo, who in that same year depicted himself (fig. 2). There can be little doubt that the two portraits engage one another, in a sibling dialogue, and must have been conceived as dialogical. 

Born in 1872, Antoon Molkenboer came of important Dutch artist stock, being the son of the sculptor Willem Molkenboer, and the brother of Theo Molkenboer, himself a respected painter, and Phemia Molkenboer, a ceramist and furniture designer. Antoon was trained by his maternal uncle Antoon Derkinderen, for whom he was presumably named, who was a well-regarded painter, draughtsman, and glass painter – and friends with such luminaries as Jan Toorop and Jan Veth. 

Between 1889 and 1892, Molkenboer received his formal artistic training at the drawing academy (Rijksnormaalschool voor Teekenonderwijzers) in Amsterdam, which was founded by his father, and housed in one of the wings of the Rijksmuseum. Molkenboer’s talent was not limited to drawing and painting, he also made mosaics, graphic and stage designs. Molkenboer was a member of the Wagner Society, Amsterdam, and designed the costumes and decor for all the Society’s Wagner performances, 1900 – 1904. Through his involvement in the Wagner Society, he befriended the legendary Italian tenor Enrico Caruso who invited him to America where he worked 1905 – 1910. He initially continued his studies at the Art Students League, New York. Through the mediation of painter Jozef Israëls, Molkenboer was commissioned to record, in paint, the massive destruction caused by the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco that left half of that city’s population homeless. Among other interesting commissions were the decoration of Asher Hamburger’s Majestic Theatre in Los Angeles 1908 (destroyed 1933) and the decoration of Seattle’s Chamber of Commerce.

Upon his return to The Netherlands in 1910, Molkenboer and his wife, settled at The Hague, where Molkenboer would live and work over the following decades. After his house was destroyed during the German Occupation, Molkenboer settled in the comparatively quiet hamlet of Heemstede by Haarlem. Among his later works, the stunning mosaics in the Church of St Anthony Abbott, Scheveningen – one of them being the largest in northern Europe – deserve special mention.