Willem Adams - Cis van Gruythuisen

Willem painted this expressive portrait from the winter of 1956 when he was just nineteen — an early work by an artist who was still finding his own language. The intense black contours, the yellow skin, and the head in the hands reveal a young painter who had clearly absorbed the German Expressionists and Permeke, but with his own raw directness. Those familiar with his later oeuvre — the colorful, rhythmic landscapes of the Brabant Kempen with which he made his name, such as *Large Yellow Landscape* from 1968 — already recognize the seed here: the bright yellow, the flat composition, and the preference for feeling over likeness. His work is now included in the collections of the Van Abbemuseum, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Museum Het Valkhof, and the Noordbrabants Museum, which gives this early work extra significance as a link to that museum recognition.
Early, signed, and dated portraits by Adams are rare on the market, and this searching, emotional piece in particular should not be missing from the collection of Adams enthusiasts.