The Arrival of the Muses of Art at Architecture
1890
Medium
Pen and brown ink and colored crayons on cream wove paper (discolored to buff), pieced
Dimensions
20.6 × 24.8 cm (8 1/8 × 9 13/16 in.)
Classification
prints and drawing
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
198859
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Jan Toorop was born in Indonesia, raised in the Netherlands, and married to an English wife. His art was as diverse as his cultural background. He experimented with many different styles, from Impressionism to Symbolism, and was adaptable even when working on a single image. This composition must have evolved as he drew. It comprises three individual pieces of paper. Traversing a watery expanse, personifications of the arts (music, painting, poetry or literature, and sculpture) come to alleviat...
About the Artist
Jan Toorop · 1858–1928
Johannes Theodorus 'Jan' Toorop (1858–1928) was one of the most influential Dutch artists at the turn of the twentieth century, whose distinctive Symbolist style and flowing Art Nouveau lines left an indelible mark on European art. Born on December 20, 1858, in Purworejo on the island of Java in the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia), Toorop brought a unique synthesis of Eastern and Western...