Hendrik Johan 'Henk' Melgers

Groningen 1899-1973 Amsterdam
A farmer’s wedding couple, gouache on paper 41.0 x 54.5 cm, signed l.r.

provenance: Service for the National Dispersed Works of Art (now: Institute for Cultural Heritage of the Netherlands, Amsterdam), inv.nr. SZ 7419, 1955-2005.

The Groningen Expressionist Henk Melgers trained at the Minerva Academy of Art and became a member of De Ploeg in 1926. The landscapes and portraits of his early Ploeg years are characterised by divisionism: he built up his compositions from brushstrokes placed next to each other. With regard to colour and form, these are close to the work of his fellow Ploeg members. After his move to Zeegse in north Drenthe in 1927 his subject matter changed to farm landscapes with figures and scenes of an anecdotal nature. His style became increasingly more impressionist realism. After 1933 he lived for a time in Amsterdam.

insurance value: € 6,500.-
starting bid: € 3,000.-