DOI Heft:
Nr. 187 (October 1908)
DOI Artikel:Frantz, Henri: Johann Barthold Jongkind
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20965#0028
Johann Barthold Jongkind
were expressed. Memories of his native land
crowded back upon him. In words full of
colour, he would conjure up the pale horizons, the
dried-up ponds with their flourishing furze, the
canals reflecting the skies across the grazing lands,
the little houses with their rosy roofs, the great wind-
mills tall as towers ... At every moment I would
see him pull from an immense portfolio packets of
water-colours done with astonishing freedom, or
delicate, finely-bitten etchings which he threw care-
lessly about. As he showed me his early studies
he would exclaim : 1 My painting needs ageing. It
is a little hard at the beginning, but afterwards—
look ! look ! ’ I scolded him for handling all these
beautiful things so roughly, leaving them piled up
on the floor at the risk of being trodden. ‘ Bah ! ’
he would reply, ‘Nature gave me that, and if I
want it she will give me ten times more.’ ”
Few indeed were they who in his lifetime
realised the genius of the great Dutchman—as a
rule they were painters, like Corot, and afterwards
Daubigny, who used to say he often thought of
Jongkind when painting; and then Claude Monet,
on whom Jongkind assuredly exercised some
influence ; then, too, Troyon, Diaz, and Rousseau.
But who were the critics to discover the painter on
the walls of the Salon ? Among them was Zola,
who in 1S72 wrote :—
“ His style of painting is quite as singular as his
manner of seeing. He has astonishing breadth
and his simplifications are supreme. They give
one the idea of sketches dashed off in a few hours,
for fear of letting the first impression escape.
Everything passes into his eye, into his hand. He
sees a landscape at once, in all the reality of its
ensemble, and translates it in his own fashion,
preserving its reality, and communicating to it
the deep impression he has experienced.”
Tired for ever of Salons and exhibitions, Jongkind
henceforth continued his obscure career—a creature
illumined by genius and absolutely disinterested,
dashing down on paper or on canvas, day by day,
his passionate visions of Nature. His works, always
signed and dated, serve to inform us respecting his
vagabond existence. Thus in 1868 he was in
Holland, while in 1865 he seems to have spent some
time in Normandy, as is witnessed by his water-
colours of Etretat and Honfleur. Since we come
across a certain number of Dutch landscapes dated
1869, 1871, and 1872, one is tempted to suppose that
he remained almost exclusively in Holland during
those four years. In 1875 he visited the shores of
“sainte adresse
(oil painting)
6
(Durand- Ruel Collection)
BY J. B. JONGKIND
were expressed. Memories of his native land
crowded back upon him. In words full of
colour, he would conjure up the pale horizons, the
dried-up ponds with their flourishing furze, the
canals reflecting the skies across the grazing lands,
the little houses with their rosy roofs, the great wind-
mills tall as towers ... At every moment I would
see him pull from an immense portfolio packets of
water-colours done with astonishing freedom, or
delicate, finely-bitten etchings which he threw care-
lessly about. As he showed me his early studies
he would exclaim : 1 My painting needs ageing. It
is a little hard at the beginning, but afterwards—
look ! look ! ’ I scolded him for handling all these
beautiful things so roughly, leaving them piled up
on the floor at the risk of being trodden. ‘ Bah ! ’
he would reply, ‘Nature gave me that, and if I
want it she will give me ten times more.’ ”
Few indeed were they who in his lifetime
realised the genius of the great Dutchman—as a
rule they were painters, like Corot, and afterwards
Daubigny, who used to say he often thought of
Jongkind when painting; and then Claude Monet,
on whom Jongkind assuredly exercised some
influence ; then, too, Troyon, Diaz, and Rousseau.
But who were the critics to discover the painter on
the walls of the Salon ? Among them was Zola,
who in 1S72 wrote :—
“ His style of painting is quite as singular as his
manner of seeing. He has astonishing breadth
and his simplifications are supreme. They give
one the idea of sketches dashed off in a few hours,
for fear of letting the first impression escape.
Everything passes into his eye, into his hand. He
sees a landscape at once, in all the reality of its
ensemble, and translates it in his own fashion,
preserving its reality, and communicating to it
the deep impression he has experienced.”
Tired for ever of Salons and exhibitions, Jongkind
henceforth continued his obscure career—a creature
illumined by genius and absolutely disinterested,
dashing down on paper or on canvas, day by day,
his passionate visions of Nature. His works, always
signed and dated, serve to inform us respecting his
vagabond existence. Thus in 1868 he was in
Holland, while in 1865 he seems to have spent some
time in Normandy, as is witnessed by his water-
colours of Etretat and Honfleur. Since we come
across a certain number of Dutch landscapes dated
1869, 1871, and 1872, one is tempted to suppose that
he remained almost exclusively in Holland during
those four years. In 1875 he visited the shores of
“sainte adresse
(oil painting)
6
(Durand- Ruel Collection)
BY J. B. JONGKIND