Image: Charley Toorop, Group Portrait of H.P. Bremmer and His Wife with Contemporary Artists, 1936-1938
The Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo is presenting ‘Bart van der Leck / Charley Toorop’, an exhibition devoted to two friends who arrived at very different artistic languages in the early twentieth century. It opened on 26 September 2026 and runs until 1 September 2027.
Both artists are strongly represented in the museum’s holdings. Their works were acquired by the museum’s founder, Helene Kröller-Müller (1869–1939), who was introduced to Bart van der Leck (1876–1958) and Charley Toorop (1891–1955) by her art adviser, Henk Bremmer (1871–1956). She went on to support both careers through commissions and purchases.
At the centre of the presentation is Toorop’s ‘Group Portrait of H.P. Bremmer and His Wife with Contemporary Artists’ (1936–1938), which gathers artists who had been mentored by Bremmer. Van der Leck occupies the middle of the composition, a placement Toorop explained by the importance he held for Bremmer; she painted herself into the upper left corner.
Their paths diverged sharply. Van der Leck increasingly reduced visible reality to lines and flat areas of primary colour. Toorop stayed close to what she observed, portraying people and circumstances with a directness the museum describes as raw and confrontational, and her self-portraits are among the most striking examples.
What linked them was a common political conviction. Both held socialist ideals and believed that art could help shape a better society. During the Second World War, Toorop stayed for a time with Van der Leck and his family, and the two discussed these questions at length.
Van der Leck turned to the daily lives of working people, among them farmers, factory workers and miners. Toorop addressed heavy labour, drawing on the Belgian mining region of the Borinage, and painted haunting portraits of people living on the margins of society.
Works singled out by the museum include Toorop’s ‘Volkshuis, Amsterdam Zeedijk’ (People’s House, Amsterdam Zeedijk), ‘Zelfportret’ (Self-Portrait), ‘Het gezin’ (The Family) and ‘Mijnwerkersvrouw uit de Borinage (de weduwe Godart)’ (Miner’s Wife from the Borinage, the Widow Godart), together with Van der Leck’s ‘Havenarbeid’ (Harbour Work) and ‘Compositie 1917 no. 4 (uitgaan van de fabriek)’ (Composition 1917 No. 4, Leaving the Factory).
