Patrick Bakker
Encyclopedia
Patrick Bakker was born on 12th November 1910 in Apeldoorn (Netherlands) and died in Amsterdam on 28th December 1932. He was an accomplished Dutch artist in both oil paintings and pen or pastel drawings in the first half of the twentieth century. At the time of his death he was considered a “prodigy”, in the words of Bénézit’s famous Dictionnaire (see Bibliography). Despite his short life, he left an amazingly large collection of rich works, characterised by an expressive freedom in his use of colour, confident draughtsmanship and controlled impetuosity. The renowned art critic Abraham Marie Hammacher spoke highly of him in Stromingen en persoonlijkheden : schets van een halve eeuw schilderkunst in Nederland, 1900-1950 (p. 140, see Bibliography).
and Académie Colarossi
, then, from Spring 1932 onwards, in Lucien Simon
’s studio at the École des Beaux-Arts. He met many French and foreign artists who lived in the French capital at that time, including André Lhote
, Fernand Léger
, Conrad Kikkert and Piet Mondrian
. There was a time when he spent every Sunday with Jacques-Émile Blanche, who also painted his portrait. He was also close to the young David Ogilvy
and spent much time with the Russian émigré community. It was in fact with the Troubetskoy family, who were lent an outbuilding at the Château de l’Etoile, in the Touraine region, that Patrick Bakker was to live his last few weeks of creativity, during the summer of 1932, from which he brought back a series of remarkably fine ink drawings. In the autumn of that year he fell ill again and went for a rest with his family in Hilversum. He barely had the time to organise his first personal exhibition in Amsterdam when he went into hospital and died a month later at the age of twenty-two.
Painting : His oil paintings and pastels are especially striking for their sense of colour. During the same years in which Dutch artists like Dick Ket
, Raoul Hynckes or Pyke Koch
were aiming at casting rough, mysterious or dream-like images into an impeccable, yet somewhat frozen workmanship, Patrick Bakker remained attached to the ideals of high art and a sensual, expressive, even expressionist technique. His subjects are traditional – nudes, portraits, still-lives and landscapes – yet he portrayed them with continual colour experiments. This is, probably, his most personal contribution to painting. Whereas the German expressionists or the Dutch painters of the De Ploeg movement (except perhaps George Martens
) liked to use primary colours, Patrick Bakker, whilst staying clear of any hint of impressionism, cultivated bitter-sweet and dissonant juxtapositions, introducing often deliberately dirty hues, with a controlled violence of expression.
Drawing : His ink drawings, on the other hand, are often very delicate and demonstrate his innate draughtsmanship : his later views of Paris, his pictures of woods or hills, are carried out in a fine, meticulous and elegant style, alternating blank areas of white paper with passages of great intricacy.
It must be added, too, that ever since he was a child, Patrick Bakker never stopped producing – parallel to his work – a wealth of caricatures, doodles and illustrations. Even his poems and texts, though strictly for private use, were carefully bound together by him and illustrated with imaginative scribbles, often swarming with figures and silhouettes that suggest, behind the social mockery, a fantastical and restless imagination.
(1936), at the Kunstzaal voor de Kunst in Utrecht (1938) and finally, after the war, at the Van Abbe Museum of Eindhoven (1958/1959). Apart from a portrait that entered the Boijmans Museum’s collection after the 1936 exhibition, the rest of his work remains in private hands, mainly with descendants of the Bakker family. It must be noted, too, that only his ink drawings and oil paintings were ever exhibited; his poems and imaginative doodles and cartoons remain, to this day, unknown to the public.
Biography
Patrick Bakker grew up in a cultured and well-to-do environment with many connections in the European art world, which strongly encouraged his early vocation. In his youth, he travelled extensively in Holland as well as abroad (France, England, Germany, later Venice and Vienna), where he admired architecture, visited museums, practised his art and befriended a wide variety of people of all ages and backgrounds. In 1928, he left school before his finals and went to Amsterdam to work firstly with Grauss, then, in 1929 – after a long illness – with Monnikendam. In September 1931, despite his delicate health, he settled in Paris, studying first at the Académie JulianAcadémie Julian
The Académie Julian was an art school in Paris, France.Rodolphe Julian established the Académie Julian in 1868 at the Passage des Panoramas, as a private studio school for art students. The Académie Julian not only prepared students to the exams at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts, but offered...
and Académie Colarossi
Académie Colarossi
The Académie Colarossi is an art school founded by the Italian sculptor Filippo Colarossi. First located on the Île de la Cité, it moved in the 1870s to 10 rue de la Grande-Chaumière in the VIe arrondissement of Paris, France....
, then, from Spring 1932 onwards, in Lucien Simon
Lucien Simon
Lucien J. Simon was a French painter and teacher born in Paris.After graduating from the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, he studied painting at the studio of Jules Didier, then from 1880 to 1883 at l’Académie Julian....
’s studio at the École des Beaux-Arts. He met many French and foreign artists who lived in the French capital at that time, including André Lhote
André Lhote
André Lhote was a French sculptor and painter of figure subjects, portraits, landscapes and still life. He was also very active and influential as a teacher and writer on art....
, Fernand Léger
Fernand Léger
Joseph Fernand Henri Léger was a French painter, sculptor, and filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of Cubism which he gradually modified into a more figurative, populist style...
, Conrad Kikkert and Piet Mondrian
Piet Mondrian
Pieter Cornelis "Piet" Mondriaan, after 1906 Mondrian , was a Dutch painter.He was an important contributor to the De Stijl art movement and group, which was founded by Theo van Doesburg. He evolved a non-representational form which he termed Neo-Plasticism...
. There was a time when he spent every Sunday with Jacques-Émile Blanche, who also painted his portrait. He was also close to the young David Ogilvy
David Ogilvy
David Mackenzie Ogilvy, CBE, , was an advertising executive. He has often been called "The Father of Advertising." In 1962, Time called him "the most sought-after wizard in today's advertising industry." He was known for a career of expanding the bounds of both creativity and morality.-Early life...
and spent much time with the Russian émigré community. It was in fact with the Troubetskoy family, who were lent an outbuilding at the Château de l’Etoile, in the Touraine region, that Patrick Bakker was to live his last few weeks of creativity, during the summer of 1932, from which he brought back a series of remarkably fine ink drawings. In the autumn of that year he fell ill again and went for a rest with his family in Hilversum. He barely had the time to organise his first personal exhibition in Amsterdam when he went into hospital and died a month later at the age of twenty-two.
Personality
Endowed with a rich and attractive temperament, both fanciful and determined, Patrick Bakker was a good linguist, who entertained a vast correspondence all over Europe. Eager for experience, he seems to have alternated periods of intense and solitary work with a festive and varied social life. He also wrote several poems in all four languages, French, English, Dutch and even German, mingling the sadness of Apollinaire with a weird nonsensical streak.Work
Despite having been granted just three years to develop, Patrick Bakker quickly attained an audacious mastery and loftiness that struck his contemporaries. His work presents, however, a pronounced stylistic diversity according to the medium he was using.Painting : His oil paintings and pastels are especially striking for their sense of colour. During the same years in which Dutch artists like Dick Ket
Dick Ket
Dick Ket was a Dutch magic realist painter noted for his still lifes and self-portraits.-Biography:...
, Raoul Hynckes or Pyke Koch
Pyke Koch
Pyke Koch was a Dutch artist who painted in a magic realist style.He was born in Beek. He exhibited in the 25th Venice Biennale in 1950. His work was shown in a retrospective exhibition at the Gemeentemuseum, Arnhem in 1966, and in a solo exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam in 1972. He...
were aiming at casting rough, mysterious or dream-like images into an impeccable, yet somewhat frozen workmanship, Patrick Bakker remained attached to the ideals of high art and a sensual, expressive, even expressionist technique. His subjects are traditional – nudes, portraits, still-lives and landscapes – yet he portrayed them with continual colour experiments. This is, probably, his most personal contribution to painting. Whereas the German expressionists or the Dutch painters of the De Ploeg movement (except perhaps George Martens
George Martens
George William Martens was an Australian politician. Born in Mount Perry, Queensland, he received a primary education before becoming a bushworker. He was active in the trade union movement, notably the Sugar Workers Union, and was an organiser with the Australian Workers' Union, of which he...
) liked to use primary colours, Patrick Bakker, whilst staying clear of any hint of impressionism, cultivated bitter-sweet and dissonant juxtapositions, introducing often deliberately dirty hues, with a controlled violence of expression.
Drawing : His ink drawings, on the other hand, are often very delicate and demonstrate his innate draughtsmanship : his later views of Paris, his pictures of woods or hills, are carried out in a fine, meticulous and elegant style, alternating blank areas of white paper with passages of great intricacy.
It must be added, too, that ever since he was a child, Patrick Bakker never stopped producing – parallel to his work – a wealth of caricatures, doodles and illustrations. Even his poems and texts, though strictly for private use, were carefully bound together by him and illustrated with imaginative scribbles, often swarming with figures and silhouettes that suggest, behind the social mockery, a fantastical and restless imagination.
Exhibitions
Patrick Bakker only exhibited once during his life-time, in 1932, at Henri Cohen’s Atelier voor Binnenhuiskunst. After his death, other exhibitions followed: at the J. Goudstikker gallery (1934), at the Boijmans Van Beuningen MuseumMuseum Boijmans Van Beuningen
The Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen is the main art museum in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The museum began in 1847 with the collection of Frans Jacob Otto Boijmans . Much of the museum's original collection was destroyed in a disastrous 1864 fire...
(1936), at the Kunstzaal voor de Kunst in Utrecht (1938) and finally, after the war, at the Van Abbe Museum of Eindhoven (1958/1959). Apart from a portrait that entered the Boijmans Museum’s collection after the 1936 exhibition, the rest of his work remains in private hands, mainly with descendants of the Bakker family. It must be noted, too, that only his ink drawings and oil paintings were ever exhibited; his poems and imaginative doodles and cartoons remain, to this day, unknown to the public.