ELSE VALK DONATES HENDRIK VALK COLLECTION TO MUSEUM DE LAKENHAL

3 SEPTEMBER 2015

The collection of Museum De Lakenhal has again between expanded by a substantial donation of works by Hendrik Valk (1897-1986). His daughter Else Valk has donated more than twenty drawings and paintings to the museum. The majority of these works date back to the modern artist’s early period when he lived and worked in Leiden. This collection further emphasizes the artist’s importance within the sphere of influence of artist collective De Stijl during the early twentieth century. The donated works will be exhibited in Museum De Lakenhal until 29 November 2015.

DONATION

Included among the donation are an early self-portrait (1919) and the ‘Triptych’ (1925), featuring a stylized Adam and Eve in Paradise. In 1997, exactly a century after her father’s birth, Else Valk already donated a set of eight pastels and the painting ‘Solar spots in the kreupelbos’ (1917). This original collection was expanded with a donated self-portrait (1926) in 2004. Combined with the paintings ‘Small home in Wassenaar' (1924) and ‘The Breakfast’ (1921), which have been acquired with the support of Friends Foundation VBL, the museum can boast about a significant collection of works by Hendrik Valk.

THE FIGURATIVE AND THE ABSTRACT

Hendrik Valk was a very versatile artist and worked during a period when the art world was bustling and moving forward. On an international level, various artistic schools were busy exploring the borders separating the abstract and the figurative. Hendrik Valk stylized reality in his works, but that reality always remained recognisable. Similarities can definitely be seen between his oeuvre and that of the artists from De Stijl. Theo van Doesburg, who founded this artist collective in Leiden in 1917, did ask Valk to join their movement, but he refused. The idiosyncratic Hendrik Valk refused to focus on the abstract out of principle. In his works, the relation with the visual reality is always present.

Editor’s note

Image: Hendrik Valk, Triptych (1925) Museum De Lakenhal, Leiden. Donation Else Valk, 2015.

Museum De Lakenhal is a museum of the arts, of artistry and of the history of Leiden. Among the highlights of our collection you can find works by many old masters, including Lucas van Leyden, Rembrandt van Rijn and Jan Steen, but also pieces by modern artists like Theo van Doesburg, Jan Wolkers and Erwin Olaf. Museum De Lakenhal develops high-quality exhibits of (inter)national importance using Leiden as its source. The museum sees itself a renewing network museum that ties the past and present together and seeks to inspire its visitors using old and new interpretations.

For more information, please contact:

Public Affairs department at Museum De Lakenhal

Minke Schat Tel. 071 5165 360 / 06 11 01 88 31 or via pr@lakenhal.nl

Museum De Lakenhal, Oude Singel 28-32, Leiden.