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Lot Essay
The present is one of the masterpieces in Graafland's oeuvre. With dynamic and powerfull brushstrokes and a beautiful use of light and colour, Graafland has created a monumental, intimate and elegant pick-nick scene.
In 1910 he founded the Limburgse Kunstkring so talented artists from Limburg could be brought together. It is possible that Graafland exhibited the present work at the first exhibition of the Limburgse Kunstkring. He had placed an enormous canvas called 'Pic-Nic' on a prominent place at the exhibition. (see: T.W. Twaalfhoven, Robert-Archibald Graafland, Venlo, 1975, p. 31).
Graafland attended the Rijksacademie in Amsterdam where August Allebé (1838-1927) was his tutor. From 1898 onward he taught at the Stadstekeninstituut in Maastricht. He travelled extensively and was inspired by the various styles his foreign colleagues employed. He took his teaching to another level by starting a Sunday school for talented pupils at his own Italianate garden. It was in this garden that the artist left the influences of the Hague School and the School of Barbizon and incorporated the colourful, bright influences of the French impressionists, as we so clearly can see in the present work.
In 1910 he founded the Limburgse Kunstkring so talented artists from Limburg could be brought together. It is possible that Graafland exhibited the present work at the first exhibition of the Limburgse Kunstkring. He had placed an enormous canvas called 'Pic-Nic' on a prominent place at the exhibition. (see: T.W. Twaalfhoven, Robert-Archibald Graafland, Venlo, 1975, p. 31).
Graafland attended the Rijksacademie in Amsterdam where August Allebé (1838-1927) was his tutor. From 1898 onward he taught at the Stadstekeninstituut in Maastricht. He travelled extensively and was inspired by the various styles his foreign colleagues employed. He took his teaching to another level by starting a Sunday school for talented pupils at his own Italianate garden. It was in this garden that the artist left the influences of the Hague School and the School of Barbizon and incorporated the colourful, bright influences of the French impressionists, as we so clearly can see in the present work.