New in the Olla Art collection is a work by Eugène Brands from the early 1950s: Paarse vlinder (Purple butterfly).
The work – a highlight in Brands’ oeuvre from this period – shows a humanized butterfly with purple wings, rising above a red earth. On that earth a green human figure with the contours of a crescent moon.
Children’s drawing
In Paarse vlinder we see the influence of the children’s drawing resound in optima forma. When Brands creates the work, his daughter Eugénie is five years old and he relishes her open-mindedness.
Comparable works by Brands from this period are Lonely child (1951) and Girl shows red flag (1951), both depicted in Ed Wingen’s monograph on Eugène Brands (Wingen, 1988, pp. 55 and 94).
Paarse vlinder is a work in mixed media on paper, from the collection of G. Hofland (Van Garrel, 1990). It is professionally framed in a walnut frame, with museum glass.
Information
For more information on this work, see our earlier newsletter on Eugène Brands, as well as the current newsletter, which is dedicated to two recently acquired works by Brands, including Paarse vlinder. Or contact Olla Art directly: info@olla-art.com.
References
Van Garrel, B., Ten Duis, L. & Haase, A. (1990). Eugène Brands: Collectie G. Hofland. Utrecht: Veen/Reflex. (Published on the occasion of the exhibition in the former Kunsthal De Beyerd in Breda (The Netherlands), 8 July to 19 August, 1990.)
Wingen, E. (1988). Eugène Brands. The Hague: SDU.
Eugène Brands, Paarse vlinder, 1952
Watercolour, gouache and ink on paper, 22.3 x 17.8 cm