1868 Zaandam – 1946 Beuron
A SELF-PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST IN HIS HABIT
oil on canvas, laid on panel, 25.5 x 22 cm
signed upper right: Verkade
date: c. 1909
provenance:
Lisa Podolinksy, née Bittmann, a gift from the artist, Pforzheim;
Alika Podolinsky Webber, Victoria B.C., Canada;
by descent until 2023;
Made in Holland, Christie’s, Amsterdam, 10 October 2023, lot 39.
exhibited:
Amsterdam, Van Gogh Museum, Jan Verkade, Hollandse volgeling van Gauguin, 1989, no. 85;
Hausen ob Verena, Kunstmuseum Hohenkarpfen and Beuron, Erzabtei St. Martin, P. Willibrord Jan Verkade. Künstler und Mönch, 2007, no. 10.10.
literature:
Annegret Kehrbaum, Die Nabis und die Beuroner Kunst, Hildesheim 2006, p. 769 ill.
When the Dutch artist Jan Verkade painted this powerful self-portrait as a monk, he had already moved on from the first part of his artistic career. In the early 1890s he had been an active member of the French artist group Nabis, who shared a common admiration for Paul Gauguin and Paul Cézanne and a determination to renew the art of painting. Following his growing interest in the Catholic Church he became a novice at the benedictine monastery of Beuron in southern Germany and joined the famous Beuroner Kunstschule (Beuron School of Art). Verkade thus became a connecting figure between two important artists’ movements in France and Germany, which were both inspired by Christianity around the fin de siècle. This painting is a visual testimony to Verkade’s interest in the Nabis and his link to the German avant-garde.
The Beuron School was an art movement founded by a confederation of Benedictine monks in Beuron. Under the leadership of the director, Father Desiderius Lenz, it sought to create a new style of painting that would encourage the worshippers to have faith in Christianity. The visual language of this School was inspired by Egyptian, early Christian and Byzantine art. According to the Beuron School, art was not meant to be made just for art’s sake (l’art pour l’art) but was supposed to serve its purpose within a larger religious framework. Frescoes were therefore a major focus of their practice. The art they produced was not signed and often created by group effort. The works were meant to accentuate the glory of God not the artist.
In 1902 Verkade was ordained as a priest in Beuron and was henceforth known as Willibrord Verkade OSB. The Beuron School was not only active in its own monastery. The painters were invited to participate in various projects throughout Europe. They also presented at international shows such as the XXIV exhibition of the Vienna Secession in 1905, which was entirely devoted to religious art. Verkade, along with several colleagues, successfully represented the Beuron School. In 1906-08 Verkade worked mainly in Munich. He was sent there by his superiors to improve his skills in painting figures. He did so by working from life models. During this period, an intense friendship and artistic exchange with Russian painter Alexej von Jawlensky developed. They worked in the same studio for a period of time. Verkade imparted his knowledge on the work of Gauguin and the Nabis which had a great impact on Jawlensky’s artistic development. In 1908, Jawlensky began incorporating the achievements of the Pont-Aven school in his own work. Color arrangements began to define his compositions. He passed on this knowledge to Wassily Kandinsky and Gabriele Münter who found Der Blaue Reiter a few years later.
In 1909 Verkade was sent to Jerusalem to help decorate the monastery “Dormitio Mariae” on mount Zion, which had been taken over by the congregation of Beuron. During this stay in the Holy Land, Verkade painted this self-portrait. Theologian and writer Adolf Smitmans describes this painting as probably the best self-portrait the artist had ever made in the exhibition catalogue Jan Verkade Hollandse volgeling van Gauguin (Van Gogh Museum, 1989). According to him it is one of Verkade’s most expressive works. Verkade went through a difficult period as a painter in Jerusalem. Some of his frescoes in the monastery were not accepted and painted over without his permission. The complaint was that they were painted too realistically and therefore stylistically deviated too much from the Beuron style. This incident reinforced Verkade’s concern about his future position and opportunities as a painter within the Beuron School. During this period of reflection he became increasingly aware of how great the influence of “his teachers” Van Gogh and Gauguin had been on him. Not much later, Verkade stopped painting to concentrate fully on his work as a priest. This ended his fierce internal conflict of how to reconcile the avant-garde with Christian art at Beuron.
In January 1910, Verkade wrote in a letter to Maurice Denis that he was thinking of giving this self-portrait to his wife. The painting eventually did not come into the possession of Mrs. Denis. Verkade gave it to Lisa Bittmann after returning to Germany. She was friends with Verkade. The painting remained in the family until 2023.
More information on the artist can be found here:
