A.C.P. (CHARLEY) TOOROP

Biography

A.C.P. (CHARLEY) TOOROP
1891 Katwijk - 1955 Bergen

It is remarkable that Charley Toorop's painting Huisje te Veere, created in 1917, makes such a powerful impression and radiates such vitality. Despite its simple subject matter, the painting concentrates a dose of energy that makes it one of the strongest works from her early period. In 1917, Charley—daughter of the great and widely revered painter Jan Toorop—found herself in challenging circumstances. In 1912, she married Henk Fernhout, against her parents' wishes, who had converted to Catholicism. A charming man who led the life of an 'eternal student', Fernhout held strongly anarchistic and nihilistic views, which perhaps explained Charley's admiration for him. After several years of marriage, during which three children were born in quick succession, Fernhout proved not to be the ideal partner after all.

He revealed himself to be a notorious alcoholic and refused to work to support his family. Later, he became a threat to her: he chased her with a knife and sometimes destroyed the paintings she had made. Charley, a highly self-assured and resolute woman, decided to leave him, taking the children with her. In 1916 and 1917, she led a nomadic existence, occasionally finding shelter and financial support with close acquaintances. She stayed in Bergen and Domburg and spent some time in a sort of artists' commune (Huize Meerhuizen) in Amsterdam. Probably because her ex-husband was being examined at various clinics and by psychiatrists, she met Dr Stärcke in Den Dolder. A close friendship developed with Stärcke and his wife. Charley and her children often stayed with them, and the Stärckes regularly purchased her work. This painting, too, was created in Veere and was acquired; she received 150 guilders for it.

Stärcke's wife was a sister of Pyke Koch, who would later become known as a painter. Charley Toorop met him during one of her stays in Den Dolder, probably in 1917. Koch was deeply impressed by her and by her work. Her style unmistakably influenced the first paintings he made in the mid-1920s. Because Koch was afraid of Charley's potential criticism of this work, he even exhibited these paintings under a pseudonym. In any case, 1917 was one of the most difficult and turbulent years in the painter's life. Despite this—and perhaps also because selling her work enabled her to support her family—she continued to paint energetically. In 1917, she must certainly have spent a considerable period in Veere. At least six paintings featuring this beautiful Zeeland town as their subject were created that year. She made, amongst others, several views of the town hall in Veere and a view of the harbour. All these works have a powerful, expressionist quality and a highly personal use of colour. They reveal a striking, energetic personality with a distinctive hand. Her artistry had, at that moment, developed fully and convincingly.