Dutch Modernism: Jan Sluijters
Mother and Child (Moeder en kind) circa 1920
Charcoal, pen and brush and black ink and watercolour on paper 70 × 50 cm
Auctioned at Christie’s in 1998 for €12,500

Jan Sluijters (1881–1957) was a central figure in early Dutch modernism. For readers familiar with the work of Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt, Sluijters’ work presents an interesting regional parallel. Throughout his career, he moved away from academic traditions and developed a more flexible approach to light, color, and the depiction of human subjects. Sluijters began his education at the Amsterdam Academy of Fine Arts alongside his colleague Leo Gestel (1881–1941). During his early years, he regularly drew portraits of newborn babies and toddlers, which provided him with a steady source of income. This focus on young children appears consistently in his early production and returns in later works that address motherhood.

In 1904, Sluijters won the Dutch Prix de Rome and married his first wife, Bertha Langerhorst. The prize allowed him to travel through Italy and Spain. A visit to Paris in 1906 introduced him to Fauvism, a moment that coincides with a noticeable change in his work. When Sluijters adopted these modern techniques, the conservative jury of the Prix de Rome decided to cancel his annual financial allowance, judging his new work as too experimental. Sluijters continued his development by integrating these French influences with elements of Vincent van Gogh and the realistic style of Amsterdam Impressionist George Hendrik Breitner.

By 1909, Sluijters moved to the artistic village of Laren. During this period, he met Greet van Cooten (1885–1967), who became his second wife and muse. Like the contemporary modernists in Vienna, Sluijters focused extensively on the human form and the relationships between his models. Greet appeared in numerous portraits and figure studies. While Sluijters is occasionally associated with the Bergen School, a Dutch expressionist movement known for its darker palette and structural emphasis, his work remained distinct due to his preference for bright, luminous colors rather than their earthier tones.

The drawing Mother and Child is a clear example of Sluijters’ graphic work. By combining charcoal, pen, black ink, and watercolor on paper, he creates an intimate but direct scene. His use of strong, dark contour lines to define the figures reflects a graphic approach characteristic of his early work. At the same time, the addition of watercolor softens the composition. Instead of a formal academic portrait, the work registers a quiet, domestic moment, showing that the European search for a modern visual language was just as active in the Netherlands as it was in Austria.