Jan Sirks - "Leuvehaven Bridge Rotterdam" Pre-war Rotterdam 181-JS - Sold

Very beautiful etching by Jan Sirks from the Collection <Rijnmond Toen> no. 181-JS-113-ZS with an image of the Leuvehaven in the pre-war center of Rotterdam, ie before the bombing. The etching also appears as "Rotterdam 1918".

The etching shows a view of the Leuvehaven Bridge in the harbors in the old center of Rotterdam before the Second World War; the time when the port of Rotterdam was still in the city.

The etching is in excellent condition, very slightly yellowed and with some nail holes on the edge of the page (with a wide margin).
Annotation l in pencil: "Leuvehaven Bridge Rotterdam"
Hand signed lr in pencil
Monogram in the print lo
The etching is offered loose-leaf.

Dimensions
top 375 x 320 mm
image 290 x 230 mm

Jan Sirks (Rotterdam, February 23, 1885 – Zeist, March 11, 1938)
Jan Sirks was a Dutch graphic artist, who specialized in painting, watercolouring, drawing and etching of the ports of Rotterdam, animals, cityscapes and landscapes in a romantic realistic style. Sirks was co-founder of the Rotterdam artist group “De Branding”. Despite the fact that Sirks was self-taught, he was one of the few Rotterdammers who had a relatively good life in the art world during that period.
A biography and overview of Jan Sirks' work by Mr Aad Knops was published in 2004 (ISBN 906 216 640 7 – NUR 642/646).
There is a website dedicated to him, thanks to the careful archival work of his wife, daughter and later granddaughter Yosay Briels, who also wrote an English-language biography about him “The Dutch Artist and His Muse”. (ISBN 978-1545151792)

There is no exact certainty about the extent of Jan Sirks' work. Even if we limit ourselves to his etchings, the numbers vary. While Mr Knops talks about approximately 200 etchings, of which 198 are included in his overview, Mrs Briels' website talks about more than 300 works.

Rijnmond Toen's website and Facebook page show approximately 65 etchings by Jan Sirks that belong or once belonged to the collection, including the etching that is now offered.