De graveur Raeder

Jan Veth prints gather the faces of a whole generation of Dutch culture. Veth was the leading portraitist of the Tachtigers, the "Movement of the Eighties", drawing and painting the writers, painters, scholars and politicians of his day with sharp, sympathetic insight. Our collection of fine art prints includes portraits of more than a hundred named sitters, family portraits, studies of hands and heads, village scenes, animals and drawings from Java.

About Jan Veth

Jan Pieter Veth was born in Dordrecht on 18 May 1864; on his mother's side he descended from the Dordrecht painter family Van Strij. He trained at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam and from 1885 worked with Anton Mauve in Laren.

He belonged to the Tachtigers, the group of young Dutch writers and painters who rebelled against the polite art of their elders, and he published poems and criticism in their magazine De Nieuwe Gids. His early oil Portrait of Cornelia, Clara and Johanna Veth (1885), showing his three sisters, hangs in the Rijksmuseum.

Veth lived and worked for many years in Bussum and travelled to Java in 1921–22. His book Kunst en Samenleving (1894), a Dutch version of Walter Crane's Claims of Decorative Art, became a handbook of Dutch Art Nouveau, and his 1901 pamphlet Stedenschennis helped save Amsterdam's Reguliersgracht from being filled in. He died in Amsterdam on 1 July 1925.

Style and Subjects

Veth is above all a portraitist. His drawings, lithographs and etchings focus on the head, with a firm, searching line that catches character as well as likeness. Sitters are often shown simply, in profile or three-quarter view, against a plain ground.

He also drew studies of hands and heads, quiet scenes of Dutch villages and animals, and in later life drawings from Java. The mood is thoughtful and calm, with a strong sense of the person behind each face.

Famous Works

• Portret van George Hendrik Breitner. The Amsterdam painter George Hendrik Breitner.
• Portret van de schilder Jan Toorop. The Symbolist painter Jan Toorop.
• Portret van koningin Wilhelmina. The young Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands.
• Portret van de schrijver Frederik Willem van Eeden. The writer Frederik van Eeden, a leading Tachtiger.
• Portret van de schrijver Jacques Perk (en profil). The young poet Jacques Perk in profile.
• Portret van Dr. Abraham Kuyper. The statesman Abraham Kuyper.
• Portret van Willem Maris. The Hague School painter Willem Maris.

Decorating with Veth Prints

Veth's black-and-white portraits suit a study, library, home office or hallway. A group of writers and painters in matching thin black frames makes a fine "wall of minds" above a desk or bookcase.

His village scenes and animal studies are gentler and fit a bedroom or reading corner, while the hand studies make an elegant, modern set for a studio or entryway.

FAQ

Who was Jan Veth?

Jan Veth (1864–1925) was a Dutch painter, draughtsman, poet and critic from Dordrecht, best known as a portraitist and a member of the Tachtigers.

Who were the Tachtigers?

The "Movement of the Eighties", a group of young Dutch writers and painters of the 1880s who rebelled against the moralising art of their elders. Veth wrote for their magazine De Nieuwe Gids.

What is Jan Veth's most famous painting?

His early Portrait of Cornelia, Clara and Johanna Veth (1885), showing his three sisters, in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Where can I see Jan Veth's work?

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Dordrechts Museum hold his paintings and drawings.

What else did Veth do besides painting?

He wrote poems and criticism, translated Walter Crane's ideas on decorative art in Kunst en Samenleving (1894) and campaigned to save Amsterdam's canals.

Related Artists

• Anton Mauve: Hague School painter he worked with in Laren
• George Hendrik Breitner: Amsterdam painter and sitter
• Jan Toorop: Dutch Symbolist painter and sitter
• Willem Witsen: Dutch painter of the same generation
• Antoon Derkinderen: Dutch decorative artist of the same generation