Dolf Breetvelt - Gouache - abstract composition - Sold

Gouache by Dolf Breetvelt. Tabletop dimensions: H59 x W46cm. Dimensions representation: H53 x W41cm
The work is monogrammed, lower right, in black pen, by the artist. The authenticity of the work offered can be fully guaranteed. A certificate of authenticity can be emailed upon request.


When purchasing, the work can be picked up in 's-Gravenzande (near The Hague (Scheveningen), Rotterdam and Delft and 5 minutes from the beach). The term for collection, if paid in advance, is very long, in other words, the buyer can collect the work weeks or even months later and, if possible, combine it with a visit to one of the aforementioned cities or the beach. We can also ship the work. Our shipping days are Tuesday and Thursday.

Visual artist Dolf Breetvelt (Delft, December 31, 1892 – Amstelveen, May 20, 1975, official first name: Adolf, hence signatures such as ABr and A.Breetvelt) was the eldest son of pottery painter Henri Breetvelt. In 1913 he obtained the certificate of drawing MO at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague

In 1920 he went to the Dutch East Indies and became an art teacher in Batavia, Surabaya and Djokjakarta. In his spare time he painted, especially in Bali. He closely followed the new European art movements: realism, expressionism, surrealism and New Objectivity can be identified successively in his work from this period. He was considered one of the leading modern painters in the Indies, in the same breath as Piet Ouborg, Jan Frank Niemantsverdriet and Walter Spies.

Breetvelt took early retirement in 1937 and returned to the Netherlands. From 1938 he lived in Amsterdam. In 1948 he met the artist Corina Smit (1918-2003), with whom he had a daughter. In 1949 he exhibited completely abstract work for the first time. In the same year he joined the abstract painting artist group Vrij Beelden, which merged in 1955 into the Liga Nieuw Beelden. He almost always participated in their annual group exhibitions, first in the Amsterdam Museum Fodor, later in the new wing of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. In addition to oil paintings, he mainly made gouaches. In 1951 Breetvelt also started making abstract sculptures. He worked on it in the studio of his artist friend Hans Ittmann.

Dolf Breetvelt was a well-known appearance in the Amsterdam art world. For years, from 1952 to 1969, he sat on the Committee that assessed the submitted work for the Visual Artists Regulation. In 1963 Breetvelt was given a one-man exhibition in Museum Fodor and in 2008 in Museum Nusantara, Delft.