A very detailed and colorful section tableau design depicting a Saint, a preliminary study painting by Lambert Lourijsen (1885-1950), circle of Jan Toorop (1858-1928). Pencil, chalk and watercolor on paper. Lambert Lourijsen was a student of Jan Toorop end they became close friends. After the death of Jan Toorop, Lambert Lourijsen continued his work and finished several works of him.

Lambert Lourijsen (1885-1950)

Lambertus Theodorus Cornelis (Lambert) Lourijsen was a Dutch goldsmith, glazier, mosaic artist, painter and draftsman. He moved to Amsterdam in 1902 to develop himself as an artist. He first studied at the state school for applied arts, then studied at the state academy for visual arts and finally graduated from the Hague Academy of Visual Arts. During these years of study he was a student of Jan Toorop (1858-1928) and eventually became friends with him.

In 1911 Lourijsen won the silver medal at the Prix de Rome, he subsequently made several study trips to France and Italy and also regularly worked abroad. In 1923 Lourijsen moved to Haarlem and started designing stained glass windows and mosaics for various churches in the Netherlands. In addition to designing the religious art, he was also responsible for other furnishings, including carvings, candlesticks and carpets. He also did this for the Sint-Agathakerk in Beverwijk, for which he designed the high altar, the pulpit, windows, mosaics and the stations of the cross. Toorop’s influence is apparent from the static compositions and stylized figures in his stained glass windows.

In 1949 he made his last commission, a design for fourteen stations of the cross in the Sint-Agathakerk in Zandvoort. He died after a successful career on June 10, 1950 and was buried next to the Agathakerk.

Jan Toorop (1858-1928)

Johannes Theodorus Jan Toorop was one of the most important Dutch visual artists from the period around 1880-1910. He was a painter, draftsman and designer and started his career as an impressionist painter. He was born in the Dutch East Indies, but Jan Toorop only developed a religiously oriented Art Nouvea style in the Netherlands, which leaned more towards Symbolism. He gave birth to a strong family of painting qualities and was the father of Charley Toorop, grandfather of the artist Edgar Fernhout and the cinematographer John Fernhout and great-grandfather of Rik Fernhout. In addition to his normal daily work, Jan Toorop also taught students, including Lambert Lourijsen (1885-1950).

In 1897 Toorop lived in a small house in the Dutch province of Zeeland. There he collaborated with a group of artists, including none other than Piet Mondrian (1872-1944). The entire group of artists followed his individual personality there. Toorop continued to visit the province of Zeeland for decades and died on March 3, 1928, after a very successful career.

Study drawing, preliminary study drawing and the old master drawing.

A study drawing or a preliminary sketch or drawing is a frequently used medium by artists before starting the actual work of art. Sometimes a study drawing or preliminary study is more important than the finished work of art. Such details from a study drawing or preliminary study help to reveal an artist’s thought processes and techniques.

First, let’s start by discovering the difference between sketching and drawing and between preliminary study and study drawing. To make things a little easier: sketching first and drawing later leads to a finished work of art. The preliminary study which is necessary to complete the work as best as possible often starts with a loose sketch, followed by the preliminary drawing, after which the actual work of art can be finished with paint or another medium.

Drawing a study means that the bigger picture is divided into small segments. Here the artist practices with what he can already do, such as loose hands, loose feet or other loose body parts. The artist can also choose to practice figures or objects in a study drawing. These separate study drawings can sometimes have more impact than a preliminary sketch or drawing. By practicing individual elements, the artist can discover new insights that may have a positive influence on his or her preliminary study.

Recognizing the difference between a sketch and a drawing is often easy. A sketch is drawn loosely and lacks a lot of detail. Coarse, tangled lines are visible, and sometimes the artist starts over and over again on the same sheet of paper. With a drawing, the artist is already at an advanced stage of his preliminary study, here the story is often already recognizable and objects and people are depicted in detail. The preliminary sketches and drawings can then be used as a visual note for the actual work of art.

A common and recognizable detail in old sketches and drawings is the artist’s handwritten note. The artist describes the light, color, shape, perspective or composition needed for the finished work for certain objects or people. Written notes alongside visual images aid in understanding the finished artwork as they allow the viewer to share the artist’s process of getting to know the subject.

The term ‘old master drawing’ or ‘old master’ is often used in auctions, but when is a drawing an ‘old master drawing’?

Skilled art and antique dealers usually use the term “old master” for highly skilled painters who were active in Europe before the 1800s. The term ‘old master’ can also be used to indicate a painting, print or drawing from the same period. A well-known artist often had apprentices who also produced paintings, drawings or etchings. These could be of such a high standard that they are also referred to as ‘Old master’, an example of this: works by the School of Rembrandt van Rijn.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines the term “old master” as “A distinguished artist of the pre-modern period; especially a prominent Western European painter of the 13th to 18th centuries.” From this definition it can be concluded that the term ‘old master’ only applies from the 13th century, paintings from the period before that are considered primitive.