This work by Jan Toorop (1858-1928) is called ‘O grave, where is thy Victory’. It shows a dying man who is half-hidden behind two young women, who are trying to free him from life, while the groping figures on the right represent his earthly resentment, envy, jealousy, hate, love and conflict.
Toorop was one of only a handful of successful Dutch Symbolist artists. Symbolism was a nineteenth-century movement that had its roots in dark Romanticism. It is characterized by mythological and dream-like themes.
Although Toorop’s works are reminiscent of those by fellow Symbolist artists like Gustave Moreau, Arnold Böcklin and Henry Fuseli, Toorop has a very distinctive style. He grew up on the island Java, and the long, slender limbs of the women in this Pencil and chalk drawing may have been influenced by the shadow theater (Wayang) puppets that he must have remembered from his youth.
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