Rik Wouters & the Netherlands

Career interrupted by the First World War

Just as Wouters's artistic career in Belgium was gaining real momentum, it was interrupted by the First World War. The artist was called up to defend the country near Liège. Later he would fight near Antwerp, but the German forces there were so overwhelming that his regiment crossed the border into the Netherlands. Wouters was interned on the grounds of the Juliana van Stolbergkazerne in Amersfoort and subsequently at Kamp Zeist. In this setting, he painted and drew the daily life of the soldiers. Of the burial of the victims of the uprising at Kamp Zeist, he made a detailed watercolour.

At the Rijksmuseum

Wouters's wife, model and muse Nel Duerinckx, decided during this period to find accommodation for herself in the centre of Amersfoort. Wouters received permission at the end of 1914 to spend his days there, and from this apartment on the Langestraat he made various watercolours and drawings. In 1915, the artist, who was by then seriously ill, was allowed to leave the camp for Belgian soldiers for good. The couple settled on the outskirts of Amsterdam, where Wouters continued to work extensively and where the artist, already well known in Belgium, was rediscovered by the Dutch public. In the autumn of 1915, he exhibited a series of works on paper in the Print Room of the Rijksmuseum — Wouters's first museum exhibition. At the beginning of 1916, a large retrospective followed at the Stedelijk Museum. For this exhibition, despite the war, several crates of artworks were transported from Brussels. Just as the Stedelijk Museum had done, the Rijksmuseum purchased a series of works. After a third major operation in April 1916, Wouters would not leave the Amsterdam Prinsengrachtziekenhuis again. He died there on 11 July 1916, not yet 34 years old.

A rich oeuvre

Rik Wouters left behind a rich oeuvre. Museum Flehite presents a selection of paintings, sculptures and drawings. Although the emphasis is on the 1914–1916 period in the Netherlands, the successful years of the artist prior to the First World War are also given attention. A leading role is reserved for Nel, his wife and permanent source of inspiration.

Lenders in the Netherlands include the Rijksmuseum, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam. In Belgium they include Musea & Erfgoed Mechelen, the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels, the Museum of Fine Arts in Liège and the Groeningemuseum in Bruges. In addition to well-known pieces, works by Wouters that have never, or rarely, been on public display — including from private collections — are presented at Museum Flehite.

Publication Rik Wouters & the Netherlands

The exhibition was assembled by art historian and publicist Maarten Jager. An accompanying publication of the same name, Rik Wouters & the Netherlands (published by Waanders & De Kunst), is written by him. Wouters, Jager argues, was an artist who is difficult to classify within any movement. He was not an Impressionist, Expressionist or Fauvist; he above all developed his own artistic identity. In his sculpture, he stands close to 'classical' masters such as Auguste Rodin. The artist can be mentioned in the same breath as giants from modern Belgian art history such as René Magritte, Paul Delvaux and James Ensor. Ensor and also Paul Cézanne were the great inspirations for Wouters. It was, however, a Dutchman who completely knocked him off balance: Vincent van Gogh. Like Van Gogh, Wouters died in his thirties; like Van Gogh, he was driven by an untameable urge to paint and in a short time produced an extensive oeuvre — 'devilish' fate seemed to be pursuing him, just as it once had Van Gogh. And, as with the famous Dutch master, his brushwork was expressive, fluent and incisive. A representative selection of his virtuosic work is on display in the exhibition Rik Wouters & the Netherlands.

The exhibition was made possible in part by the financial support of: Mondriaan Fonds, Fentener van Vlissingen Fonds and the Prins Bernhard Cultuur Fonds. The exhibition is also part of the collaborative project 'Utrecht: Places of Memory'. Under this banner, various museums and organisations in the province of Utrecht are bringing the turbulent period of 1914–1918 to the fore.

Author: Annebeth Felet