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Carel Willink
Girl with a Bead Necklace, 1925
This portrait of a girl is one of four works by Carel Willink (1900-1983) of his first wife Mies van der Meulen (1900-1988): ‘He asked me to pose for the first portrait Girl with a Bead Necklace when I was living in student halls. He’d taken a photograph, so that he could continue working at home’,
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said Mies. The couple married in 1926, but divorced two years later. The background is reminiscent of a collage. Willink continued to combine individual elements to create a new whole throughout his career.
Many of Willink’s female figures are inspired by his lovers. Starting in 1925, he had a relatively brief relationship with teacher Mies van der Meulen, followed by marriage to his second wife Wilma Jeuken (1905-1960). She was married to the painter from 1933 until her death. Not long after, Willink – then 62 – met the significantly younger Mathilde de Doelder (1938-1977). An extravagant society figure, Mathilde lit up Amsterdam in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The couple married in 1969, but divorced in 1977. Willink spent the final years of his life with his fourth wife, Sylvia Quiël (1944), who is also an artist.
Artist
Carel Willink
Title
Girl with a Bead Necklace
Year
1925
Technique
Oil on canvas
Size
47 x 34 cm (h x w)
Type of object
Painting
Copyright
© Pictoright/Sylvia Willink
This work is protected by copyright. You need permission from the creator or his heir to download, edit, copy or publish it.
