Identification of the artist

Hello,

Is there anyone who can help me identifying who made this pastel painting? The painting is damaged. It was made in 1917 and it is signed but I have some problems interpreting the signature. I suspect the artist is either Dutch, German or Belgian.

 

Welcome to Antiquers! Your first photo is too dark for me to tell much about it.

 

I tried to lighten it a little bit, but I no longer have "art" programs in my laptop.

 

I would agree with the date of 1917. Is it a pastel piece?

 

I think it's a dark picture, but a nice one.

 

Welkom bij Antiquers, Jan. Very nice pastel.
The signature, maybe Dutch painter Henri van Daalhoff? I'm off looking for his siggies.

 

A very similar subject by Daalhoff.

Debora

 

Ding! Ding! Ding! I think we have a winner!

Debora

 

Yes, it is Henri (van) Daalhoff:


https://www.simonis-buunk.nl/kunstwerk/henri-van-daalhoff-schilderij-wintertje/23157/

More works, some with the same subject and feel as yours:
https://www.kunstveiling.nl/veilingopbrengsten/detail/henri-van-daalhoff/5yyNPcEYta6g2OIMeYm0ki

On the artist:
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Daalhoff

 

Thanks for your welcome.

It isn't the photo that's dark. The picture itself is dark: the Great War is raging in 1917.

 

1917 or 1907?

Debora

 

Yes, it is Hermanus Antonius van Daalhoff! He signed with "vandaalhoff".

This is amazing. How did you solve this so fast? I am really curious to know.

 

Please look at the picture of the signature: 1917. Although the Netherlands were neutral during the First World War, the effects were felt throughout Europe.

 

I was on a different track at first, but it suddenly dawned on me that I had seen similar paintings by Henri van Daalhoff before, but had to check signatures to be sure.
A lightbulb moment as a result of a miss-spent youth.

(Btw, vandaalhoff could be the name of a neighbourhood on the wrong side of the tracks.)

Agree, it is the style, bleak but beautiful.

 

Yes it is pastel.

 

We did have about one million Belgian refugees on a population of little over 6 million, so everyone knew about the horrors of WWI.
Also, because the Netherlands relied heavily on import, often from Germany, many goods and even raw materials were no longer available.

 

Merely a question. But... If the date was 1917, I would expect the two 1s to be written the same. And they're not. Unless a catalogue raisonné exists, there is no way of verifying which date is accurate.

Debora

 

I once saw an exhibition of a ww1 artist who painted terrible scenes of destruction but in pretty colors. it was amazing how it changed ones perceptions of the scene.Of course the name escapes me,that was many years ago.