New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1915-07-03
.BELGIANS' Flight.
PAINTED BY TOROOP
Three Remarkable Works by HoI-
lands Distinguished Artist

Z ASSOCldLGu& -
The Hague, Netherlands, July s.
The Jan Toroop exposition, now being
held here, reveals three remarkable
works Of Hollands most distinguished
religious s~mboiist and modernist in
art, devoted to THE Flight from Bel
GUM" Both here and in Amsterdam
where they have already been shown,
these studies have created comment
Conceived IN an exalted symbolism and
exc ,uted in modified cuhist style,
they both intrigued and captivated the
Conservative Dutch public.
After ALL said Mr. de Neree tot
BAbbericfa. one OF the younger and
more radical artists of the Neither
lands. How is one to put upon can
vas arythii which can give any sort
of adequate conception Of the horror,
the suffering and the incredible wrong
OF the German devastation of Belgium,
merely by picturing isolated instances
of hideous acts 1t is a situation where
only the IN, st comprehensive symbol
ism can possibly give competent ex-
preston to the subject offered. 1t Is
this that Jan Toroop has attempted.
line Holy FHgnt
The most remarkable of the three
pictures is entitled The Holy Flight
-191t. During the Belgian Exodus"
It has b-es purchased by the Munich
pal Museum Of Amsterdam. In gener-
al character it is cubist as well as
symb olical, though in this instance
the artist has not employed that blaz-
ing cunterpart of primary colors Of
which besis Sc fond i'm liz. Ia ndscapes.
The entire s,ork is "a study inbrowns,
with fiat prospective almost Durer-
esque. In the background are seen
the roofs and facades of {, city, prom
inent among which is a church, from
who's. windews the flamas are curl
ing. In the foreground is white
ROBBED female figure, in no sense ideal
lied save by a certain asceticism of
feature. with closed eyelids and hold
ing. simple, wooden cross tightly
clasped to the breast. With the ut
mort - igne.cv the figure reveals an
intolerable burden Of. paind
bending at three-quarters length
across the whole of the forefront of
the competition, in an attitude of the
blindest and most precipitated fight.
BEHIND, in the middle distance, are the
coifed faces and yelled shoulders Of
five nuns "a favorite subject with the
artist, bent n the haste of even more
urgent desperation The whole con-
stitutes a very effective symbolism OF
the Ee!s: AN exodus, expressing In this
way, probably in more enduring form,
the spirit eff the Belgian people driven
before the Prussian armies than
Adrian Ost-anoiher Dutch artist de-
voting himself to Belgian themes-has
been able to achieve by employing an
almost equ. lily striking realism of
method.
The Holy Flight has inspired the
Dutch poet, Nick Jensen, to verse
written upon seeing Toroop's unusual
painting. She has also translated
others Of Toroop's works into poetic
prose, which has been widely pub
lished in the Netherlands, adding to
the fame which the artists extraordi
nary symbolism has secured for him.
Can Draw and Paint
Toroops, however. has one advan-
tage over many Of the cubists, futur-
lists and symboiists whose work has
been d source of amusement to the
general public for some time. He
not only can both draw and paint, but
has done so with success, his careful.
realistic work of thirty years ago still
being considered as able as that OF
any of the contemporary school Of
Dutch painters. 1t would be difficult
to imagine a more striking contrast
that that afforded at the present ex-
position by the exhibition, side by
side. of one of the paintings of To-
roop's earlier, materialistic manner.
THE Pickpocket," piece of admir-
able realism, and wierd conception
in the Aubrey Beardsley style, called
",The Deep Sea-
Toroop's personal history is by no
means an ordiary one. An Indc" as
the colonial half-breeds are called,
hailing from Sun1atra in the Dutch
East Indies, he began his work as a
painter of uncompromising realism.
he himself a pro-
materialist, holding no relig-
ious convictions. With his conversion
to Catholicism, however, the whole
style Of his painting changed. He has
devoted himself to seeking to express
in line and color the liturgy of the |
Roman Catholic church by a symbol !
ism of his own conception in such Of
his exquisite, aetherial drawings as
Marriage, Love- and THE Bridge
OF Cody Life