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Carel Willink
Landscape with Fighters, 1937 - 1938
From the mid-1930s onwards, Carel Willink (1900-1983) encapsulated his search for immortality in a series of landscapes focusing on the beauty of unspoilt nature, in which humans play a subordinate role. Placed within the ostensibly classical compositions, the dead trees and branches – symbolic of m
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ortality – bring contrast to the landscapes. Moving deeper into the 1930s, Willink’s overcast skies became increasingly menacing. Some therefore saw him as a ‘prophet of doom’, an assumption that he himself thought was rather ridiculous.
Before starting on this large canvas Landscape with Fighters, Willink made a number of sketches. One of these sketches is in the Museum MORE collection. The landscape is overwhelming, with the immense view and menacing skies; you could almost overlook the fighting men. But if you look closely, you’ll see that one man is grabbing the other tightly by the throat. The preliminary study appears to show the scene a moment later: the one man lies on the floor, the other sits on a rock. Is he perhaps contemplating what he has done?
Artist
Carel Willink
Title
Landscape with Fighters
Year
1937 -
1938
Technique
Oil on canvas
Size
86 x 146 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.
