The Bergen School (Dutch : Bergense School) was a movement in Dutch painting which manifested itself between 1915 and 1925. It is characterised by an expressionist style, influenced by cubism and showing a preference for darker colours. The participating artists lived and worked in or near the artist's village Bergen in the province of North Holland.
A considerable number of artists had already been living or working in Bergen before; thus the village had become known as an 'artist colony'. A majority of painters belonging to the group lived close to each other on the Buerweg, in the neighbourhood Bergen Binnen, which is situated in between Bergen and Bergen aan Zee.
The founders of this movement were the French painter Henri Le Fauconnier and the Dutch painter Piet van Wijngaerdt. They gained many adherents among young painters who agitated against Impressionism, just like Fauvism did in France and Expressionism in Germany. The art theories of the group were largely written down in the magazine 'Het Signaal' (The Signal).
The art historian F.M. Huebner was the first one to write about the Bergense School. [1]
The works of the Bergense School are characterised by figurative depiction with cubist influences, an expressionist touch and in dark colours.
The artists had a preference for painting Still life and the Human figure. The movement was a first original expression of a Dutch movement later to be named Expressionism. Its name refers to the village where the painters established, as is assumed because of its special light.
Among the most celebrated artists belonging to this school were Charley Toorop and John Rädecker. In particular the Amsterdam art collector Piet Boendermaker [2] and C.W.N. Baard contributed to the fame of the Bergense School. Other members of the School are: Else Berg, Gerrit van Blaaderen, Arnout Colnot, Dirk Filarski, Leo Gestel, Jaap Weijand, Frans Huysmans, Harrie Kuyten, Kees Maks, Jaap Sax, Mommie Schwarz, Jan Sluyters, Wim Schumacher, Matthieu Wiegman and Piet Wiegman.
Painters whose works are related to the Bergense School are Jelle Troelstra, Henri ten Holt, Bernard Essers, Henk Chabot [3] and Thé Lau.
Painters like Karel Colnot, Jaap Min and Henk van den Idsert belong to a later generation, but started their careers under the influence of the Bergense School.
Museum Kranenburgh in Bergen (NH) and the Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar owns a considerable number of work by representatives of the Bergense School.
Henri Le Fauconnier had already in 1912 become a member of the Amsterdam Moderne Kunstkring (Modern Art Circle), together with Fernand Léger and Piet Mondriaan. A few years after the formation of the Bergense School in Groningen another School was formed in 1917–1918, called De Ploeg. Jan Wiegers was its central figure. De Ploeg also worked in an expressionist style, but its use of colour was much more exuberant. The group was notably influenced by the German Expressionism of Ernst Kirchner and its social outlook was influenced by the upcoming socialism.
Johannes Theodorus 'Jan' Toorop was a Dutch-Indonesian painter, who worked in various styles, including Symbolism, Art Nouveau, and Pointillism. His early work was influenced by the Amsterdam Impressionism movement.
Jan Altink was a Dutch expressionist painter and cofounder of De Ploeg.
The Amsterdam School is a style of architecture that arose from 1910 through about 1930 in the Netherlands. The Amsterdam School movement is part of international Expressionist architecture, sometimes linked to German Brick Expressionism.
The Kunstmuseum Den Haag is an art museum in The Hague in the Netherlands, founded in 1866 as the Museum voor Moderne Kunst. Later, until 1998, it was known as Haags Gemeentemuseum, and until the end of September 2019 as Gemeentemuseum Den Haag. It has a collection of around 165,000 works, over many different forms of art. In particular, the Kunstmuseum is renowned for its large Mondrian collection, the largest in the world. Mondrian's last work, Victory Boogie-Woogie, is on display at the museum.
Gustave Franciscus De Smet was a Belgian painter. Together with Constant Permeke and Frits Van den Berghe, he was one of the founders of Flemish Expressionism. His younger brother, Léon De Smet, also became a painter.
The Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten was founded in 1870 in Amsterdam. It is a classical academy, a place where philosophers, academics and artists meet to test and exchange ideas and knowledge. The school supports visual artists with a two-year curriculum.
Expressionist architecture was an architectural movement in Europe during the first decades of the 20th century in parallel with the expressionist visual and performing arts that especially developed and dominated in Germany. Brick Expressionism is a special variant of this movement in western and northern Germany, as well as in the Netherlands.
Dutch art describes the history of visual arts in the Netherlands, after the United Provinces separated from Flanders. Earlier painting in the area is covered in Early Netherlandish painting and Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting.
The Willem de Kooning Academy is a Dutch academy of media, art, design, leisure and education based in Rotterdam. It was named after one of its most famous alumni, Dutch fine artist Willem de Kooning.
Charley Toorop was a Dutch painter and lithographer. Her full name was Annie Caroline Pontifex Fernhout-Toorop.
Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar is a city museum located in the center of Alkmaar on the Canadaplein. The museum is devoted to presenting and preserving the cultural history of Alkmaar and the surrounding region.
Kunst zij ons doel, or KZOD, is the name of an artists club in the Waag, Haarlem.
August Allebé was an artist and teacher from the Northern Netherlands. His early paintings were in a romantic style, but in his later work he was an exponent of realism and impressionism. He was a major initiator and promoter of Amsterdam Impressionism, the artist's association St. Lucas, and the movement of the Amsterdamse Joffers. Amsterdam Impressionism – sometimes referred to by art historians as the School of Allebé – was the counterflow to the very strong Hague School in the movement of Dutch Impressionism. As a professor at the Royal Academy of Amsterdam he fostered a cosmopolitan attitude toward art and the promotion and motivation of his students, and provided a significant stimulus to developments in modern art.
Samuel Leser Schwarz, known as Mommie was a Dutch Jewish painter and graphic artist. He also worked as a designer of book covers.
Petrus Cornelis Constant (Piet) Wiegman was a Dutch painter, graphic artist, sculptor, ceramist and puppeteer.
Pieter Antonie van Stuivenberg was a Dutch artist, who was active as sculptor, painter, lithographer, and graphic artist.
Jaap Schreurs was a Dutch painter and graphic artist in the neo-figurative style.
Hendrikus "Henk" Chabot was a Dutch painter and sculptor.
Edgar Richard Johannes Fernhout was a Dutch painter.
Flemish Expressionism, also referred to as Belgian Expressionism, was one of the dominant art styles in Flanders during the interbellum. Influenced by artists like James Ensor and the early works of Vincent van Gogh, it was a distinct contemporary of German Expressionism. Contrary to the more rebellious and erotic nature of many German Expressionist works, the Flemish art of the School of Latem was more oriented towards the farming life, and was expressed in earthy colours and vigorous brushwork. It was also in general more oriented towards France and Brussels than to Germany, and incorporated elements of Fauvism and Cubism, for example the interest in "primitive" art, of both the ethnic and folk traditions. Flemish Expressionists like Spilliaert were more influenced by Ensor and Symbolism, or like Wouters were closer to the vibrant colours used by the Fauvists. The main proponents were Gust De Smet, Constant Permeke and Frits Van den Berghe.